Getting Ready to Go to Bolivia

ok what's up everyone...

this week was very good. we are teaching good a decent amount of lessons. we have some good investigators. some new ones. one is a young lady, twenty, named medalith. she is the only non-member in her family but her family is inactive. so we started visiting her and her family. anyways she's gone to church for two straight weeks and we are very happy. she's a good person and the plan is to baptize her the 23rd. so were happy for that too.

outside of that, we have some families that we're teaching still but, like most of our people, sometimes they go to the church sometimes they don't. pretty inconsistent but that's how it is. we just do what we can and keep going.

so ya, this morning the office called and said that this Thursday i have to go to the office to go and get some paperwork done for my foreign something or whatever. so... i would assume that that would be for me to be going to Bolivia. since i did the stuff for Peru already. but i don't know. if it is for Bolivia it would mean probably in five weeks that I'd be going there. I'll let you all know though. I'm actually excited for the chance to go to Bolivia. i think it would be really interesting and a great way to change the scene of things a little bit. i love Peru. it's a great place but Bolivia is my mission and i sorta wanna go.

so ya that's the word on Bolivia. now my district is great. we are having a lot of success and doing good. as is the zone. it's a good area but not one of the best according to the missionary grapevine. but i love it. even though I'm pretty sure I'll be getting changed this cambio. but like most things in the mission you never really know.

ok so it was great to call home yesterday. that was nice. mom sorry i called so late. didn't realized you were home that early and whatever. i know Bryce didn't get to call you so i bet you were waiting all day for that. but ya i loved talking to ya and I'm glad all is good there in the ward and the branch. which reminds me. i wanna say hi to all the families in my ward... desert hills. i miss you all and hope all is good with everyone there. and then a special hi to all the families in the Spanish branch. the six months that i was there were just amazing. i loved it and hope to always be part of the branch. thanks to everyone. but actually since the Spanish branch people speak Spanish i shoulda written it in Spanish. mom you can translate it if you want to . next time I'll write in Spanish.

so lets see... we still haven't changed rooms. not like we really want to but since the pres says we have to we're looking. but there still and none that meet their requirements. so we're still there. it's nice.

so ya things are going good. this week is gonna be kinda busy probably. we'll have interviews i think, i have to do two changes, and Thursday i have to go to that thing in the office... so ya fun fun

thanks for forwarding Bryce's emails. it's nice to hear that he's doing good. one week done. only 103 left. don't tell him that tho. and like he said the worst things about the mtc were the showers but ya know when he gets to Argentina and doesn't have the option between blistering hot or ice cold.... and the only one is ice cold, he's gonna wish he had those mtc showers.

so just some random facts....

• no i haven't been robbed...
• i haven't eaten any other strange food
• 4 of the six dogs that always barked at me and tried to bite me have died. i didn't kill them somebody else did. in the middle of the night somebody shot them. in the morning the owners went outside and found them all dead. kinda funny... unless you like dogs.
• my pench wants to make turtle and alligator for me but can't find the meat
• they sorta celebrate mothers day here. but it's not as big as it is in the U.S.
• my foot is getting better....slowly but surely
• my district always wins when we play soccer. we have our own name and everything. my district is ... distrito despertad.. and the other distrito burgos... and we've won at soccer 6 to 2, 5 to 2, and 3 to 1... domination. but ya know we try to be nice every once and a while and change teams up.

ok so that's about all i think. thanks for all the help and packages.. letters and all that good stuff. i miss you all. bye

Cambios (transfers), new room and a Pillow!

hi everyone

so this week was good.... like them all. but this week was also cambio week. and the results of this cambio are....... for me nothing. which is cool. i like my area and like my comp so I'm 100 percent ok with that. three people from our zone got changed. not very many which leads us all to believe that for the next one there will be a lot of changes. also bc that will be the last change b4 our new pres. shows up. so everyone thinks that the next change will be how things will be when the new president shows up.... if that makes any sense.

on other interesting news.... rumor has it that today or tomorrow they are gonna return all the Bolivia missionaries to their mission, if they had already been there. they are going to the interpol or Bolivian embassy to get things figured out for today and this Wednesday should be back in their mission. interesting stuff. another rumor says that they will return all the Bolivian missionaries when this next cambio ends. meaning the missionaries that never got to Bolivia.... so that's cool too. they say the only reason they don't send everyone together is to not hurt the mission that we're in, bc by now there are over 50 Bolivian missionaries, and bc they say it'll be easier to send the ones who've already had the visa to go there. so it'll take longer for us to get ours. but who knows ..... the rumors come from elder vickery, my old zone leader and now assistant to the president. but rumors from anyone are just rumors

so ya.. something else kinda cool. mommy Fierro, the wife of the pres. inspected rooms a little while back.. she said our room was way too small. it is but the hna. gave us another room to put a lot of our stuff, but mommy Fierro still wasn't happy. she told us to change rooms, we looked couldn't find anything. talk to the our pench and she said that she'll build us another room right next to the one we have and bigger. so we're gonna get a new room and stay in the same pench. so it's kinda cool. and we get to help build it. so in surco i put up roofs, and tore down roofs. and here I'm gonna learn to put up walls from bricks and wood.. so it'll be cool.... and they sent us a new bed. and pillows which helps a lot bc for my whole mission I've used my clothes as my pillow. it's not very comfortable but now i have one. yay me.

so as far as all else goes.... same old same old. we're working with our families but we have to teach very simply and repeat lessons a lot. but they're starting to go to church and other activities so we're excited. we have some amazing people. some great friends but they just progress so slowly but I'm practicing my patience and we have faith that all will turn out how it should.

OK i think that's about all. maybe...... yup. thanks to everyone for all the help and support and for being there to help me and my families. oooo and happy Easter. they totally don't do anything for that either so i had no idea it was Easter until this morning. Peruvians don't celebrate holidays it seems, or at least not very well. OK bye everyone

We might be going to Bolivia

hey everyone. so i don't know if y'all have heard but they say they opened up Bolivia again. well that they sent greengos there again. try to see if its true or not. elder vickery the assistant said they were just waiting on the call to send us back. sounds scary to me. it's kinda funny when they originally changed my call i was mad to come here and now that i might go to my mission i don't wanna. Bolivia is hotter, more humid, more bugs and more fruit. all things I'm not too fond of. but I've learned it's not where u serve it's how u serve and anywhere i am i'll get by. I'm not gonna let something like that get in the way of my service. so that's that

now this week was interesting. not too much happened. we had stake conference and so that kinda messed up some numbers but that's part of it. i had to buy some new shoes, but let me tell u finding my size in Peru is not easy. i actually couldn't find any that weren't my size for less than 300 soles so i bought some that were just a little bit smaller and a third of the price. i figure my feet will shrink if they have to. the shoes actually seem to be getting more normal. so ya. no worries.

outside of that its been kinda boring. but since i still have time i'll tell y'all bout Peru. this week i got to know a lot more of Peru than i knew b4. we went to other zones and I've basically been in every zone of my mission that is in Lima. so when i say the mission is filled with poverty i know it's true. but there are some nice parts. parts that are great to visit. surco, limatambo, san borja, san isidro are all really nice places. and it has a lot of beach front so it makes it that much nicer.

we live right now i n a small room. like tiny. this thing wouldn't pass as a bathroom in the USA but it's great and for 30 dollars a month i don't complain. me and my comp have gotten in a habit of playing ping pong any time we find ourselves in the church. he's really good and I'm learning from him. he also plays basketball really good. i beat him but just barely. and he could beat me any day. so basically our companionship is really good. we get along great, finally.

as a district leader things are good. I'm getting a little better maybe at teaching and with my changes. still don't think I'm dl material but that's not gonna change anything so i keep going.

ok almost out of time.

thanks ma for the packet and for everyone for the bday cards and all that good stuff. and for the cards and stuff. i'll write next week

bye

From Elder CHristofferson to being bitten by a dog

so whats up everyone

sorta a lot to go through and not much time

this week was really cool. on Wednesday we had a devotional with d todd christofferson and it was really cool. talked about baptism and really prepped us up to see an apostle there. we got to shake his hand and say hi too so that was cool. also since it was in the ccm we got to see all the other elders who were with us in the ccm, well a lot of them. i saw most of the other elders who were going to Bolivia, and something cooler than christofferson was there, my mission president. president maynes was there and everyone, who had Bolivia got to meet him and say hi, that was cool

outside of that, we got one girl with a baptism date, nov 8th so that's chill, today cambios, but not for us. utia wont be dl which is good bc he was starting to get really worried he would have to shape up and be the dl. but its cool. they're adding a new district in our zone so u never know what can happen.

something kinda fun, bryce ur gonna love this, i got bit by a dog. but not bad. luckily i had my book of mormon in my left hand. i walked by and saw this dog laying down. i heard him get up and as i turned around, he bit me. but with the divine revelation we have, i had started lifting up my book and the dog got scared, so he pulled back a little and just got my calf a little, no marks or anything. so that's that.

the work goes good, we've found some families in our areas and are teaching them. they just don't wanna progress though. that is don't wanna go to church. but we try. it seems like whenever we have a great lesson with someone, we go back and they're drunk. a lot of drinking here, which is sorta a problem. most don't wanna drink and want to change, just need some help. so that's that too.

something kinda cool, yesterday, me and utia got caught in a crowd of catholics, they were in a parade type thing and stopped to pray and me and utia were in the middle. well sure enough, a member sees us and yell, hey mormons. and all eyes go to us. he was dressed normally, we are in white shirts and ties, so ya. got some dirty looks after that but all turns out good. it was kinda funny.

that's all i think. thanks for ur help, letters, support and all that. and yes i do get dear elders. just its sorta slow, but the letters are slower cause i haven't gotten any, but no worries. thanks again for everything, i miss u all and since its the second cambio i did the math and have 604 days left, or something close to that. so ya. bye

Jason's 2nd letter - MTC Provo

ok so i wasted the first 7 minutes of my time trying to remember my password. ya sounds like me.

thanks for the emails and writting letters i appreciate it a lot. and thanks for the donuts rachel. they made me the most popular person in the mtc for a while.

ok first while i love being able to email and connect with u all like this remeber that its hard for me to read seven half page emails and still be able to write you guys everything. so while i will do my best to read all the emails i will make sure that i devote at least twenty minutes to writting. which means that letters are probably best for right now. in a little bit ill be able to email longer

which leads me to my first thing, my travel plans and visa are all good i leave the 16th at ten am and go to miami, and then to peru. the plan is to spend 8 weeks there but they said that i may have that time lessoned if i can prove i deserve to get out of there.

next point: my spanish has improved a ton since i got here. its amazing how quickly you learn. ive had teachers tell me i needed to be in the advanced class but i wouldn't want to. i enjoy the time i have here and want to make the most of the chance i have to learn about the gospel instead of just teaching it.

ok so my district is the craziest district in the mtc. we have the zone leaders with us though so we can get away with almost anything. its so much fun it should be agaisnt the rules, but we all respect the rules and have as much fun as possible without getting into trouble. but there is that saying that its only breaking the rules if you get caught

i think i told you that my companion was changed after the fourth day here. my new companion is amazing too. everyone in our district is so great it wouldn't matter who my companion is.

i will try to send pics but the machine here is down and wont let us print any out right now. ill get some to you though and youll see how weird we are, even as missionaries.

i have seen beth rizley a couple of times

the food is ok, most of the time is not bad but a few times a week it is amazing and i feel like i could eat it all.

pam i saw pics and i have to say that you have another cute baby. i hope im that lucky to have two cute little babies.

o and ya'll can send pics to me over here, in fact i hope you do. just soes i know whats up. some of the guys even got some little books filled with some, it was really cool.

the mailing system stinks and might that up to six days to mail from arizona to here, so make sure that if you mail something to mail it before the tenth, cause i leave for peru the 16th and who knows if id ever get anything down there through the mailnext point:

dear elder or whatever that thing is works, at least here, i don't know if it will in the mtc in peru but i don't see y not and you guys set it up not me.

mom dad if ya'll wanna send anything soon i need batteries for my camera adn alarm clock cause i think i left them at home Ooooops
double a thanks and paper, just for the letters so i don't need to take it from my journals, candy is always appreciated by me and companions

and everyone feel free to send me letters i love letters and i need addresses before i can send any letters out, so any friends who want personalized letters need to send me one first, i trust mom and dad have given out the address and sent these to whoever wanted them, and thanks mom and dad for thatand just soes ya'll knows i can recieve and write letters any day of the week, not just on p-days. i just can't recieve or send emails any day

i think thats about it with 3 minutes left. if you guys want to know anything else let me know.

o and im excited to see skyler here tomorrowhere

my mailing address
Elder Jason Taliercio
MTC Mailbox #116
BOL-SC 0716
2005 N. 900 E.
Provo, Utah 84604-1793

thanks

Jason's first letter - July 1 - Provo MTC

hey sorry i had to send it to myself.
i forgot my email stuff in my room won't happen again. so i have only 25 minutes left to email so i will try my best to get everything in.
i miss everyone down there and hope you're all doing great.
the mtc is a great place, to be totally honest a lot better than i thought it would be. the guys here are great people. im in a district of 8 people and we get along great. one of our guys was gonna leave but decided to stay which is great cause he'll be a great missionary.
we are learning so much here too. ive memorized d and c 4 verses 1-3 in spanish and a whole lot of other things too. something interesting that happened to me is that i had a companion exchange here already. and no im not causing trouble yet. when i got here my companion was elder strobelt but they changed my companion to another guy in my district who'll be going tyo the peru mtc too. his name is elder moss and he's great. we are all in the same room and to be honest us four are like the worst set you can have becasue we get along so great we are noisy, and sometimes stay up later than we should be listening to stories from one another. we are gonna try not to though, the rules here are strict and they have people checking up on everything so we don't want to get in trouble.
so mom dad i've written you some letters and one for bryce basically saying that i expected some letters from you this week and haven't got one. shame on you. one of the other elders already got 12 from home. so i expect you to be gettign everyone to send me some so i can brag to teh others. really i want to here from everyone. but the rule is that i can't email anyone but you guys while im at the mtc. once you have it u can forward it to everyone, but if they want to talk to me they have to write to me and i promise ill write back.
i really really want letters.the transition here seemed easy at first but recently has been harder especially without letters from you guys. but no worries, the lord enables those he calls and he's called me so i won't ever quit. i love being here.
let everyone in the spanish branch no that i am already speaking spanish three time better than i was before. i came here and already knew so many gospel words in spanish thanks to them so tell them thanks.
make sure u send an email to amanda, mike, jessica, anth, liz, daniel and anyone else, but tell amanda, jess, and liz to write me becasue when the district leader gets the mail he sees the name of the person writting the letter and if it's a girl makes a big deal out of it. so i really want the girls to write. alana and midory and rachel and any other girls other than you mom.my email address is http://us.mc324.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=jtdiegom@myldsmail.net send that out to everyone to but let them know that i only have 30 min on the computer so if i get alot of emails it is a lot of work for me. mail is best if they can afford the 42 cent stamp charge.
i will stay diligent and work hard. this work is good and this church is true. i know that and the more i study (and believe me im studying like never before) the more i know. its amazing how much we can learn. i have five pages in my notebook for lesson 1 section 1 (god is our loving heavenly father) in preach my gospel. so im getting really in depth which is great.
have fun and be safe, ill do the same and talk to you in a week

Jason's Mission experience

Jason was called to serve in the Bolivia, Santa Cruz mission.

He entered the Provo MTC on Wednesday, June 25, 2008