La Ultima Semana

Yo, ch-ch-ch-changes are IN. And I am OUT. After nearly 5 months in the Montevideo 5th Ward, I am moving to....... CERRO 16. And the ward (area) is called Paso de la Arena. So I will be staying here in Montevideo, but in a very different part. It is very poor and very dangerous so YEAH. BRING IT ON. My new comp is....... Elder Wakley!!! He is from Utah and that is about all I know for now!!
As I reflect on my time here, I am overwhelmed with feelings of joy, peace, and even sadness, seeing as I am leaving the family I made here. Whenever someone asks me what I love most about Uruguay; I don´t even think twice before saying "the people". It has been that way since day 1. I love the people here.
This week, Elder Holt and I visited Alicia. Her daughter answered the door and invited us in. We went into the living room where Alicia was on the computer. She turned around and said "Hi!". But she had a large bandage over her right eye and I was like "WOAH". I apoligized. It just caught me off guard. Turns out that while she was working, she got a dangerous chemical in her eye. Fortunately, it healed afew days later. We planned a lesson with her Saturday night with Sabrina (her daughter) to watch the Restoration video. So we came Saturday night, and Alicia and Sabrina were there, along with 4 other girls (ages 9-10) running around, screaming, dancing, playing on the computer and so forth. Elder Holt and I just looked at eachother thinking "What did we get ourselves into?". Fortunately, Alicia got them all to calm down to watch the video. So we did. And through that 20 minute video, not one of them made a sound. The all enjoyed it and at the end we had a nice Q&A session with them. It really turned out to be a great lesson!
On divisions this week, Elder Watts (from Utah) came here to work with me. We saw a kid playing basketball with some girl. And they played very well, so Elder Watts and I came up to them and challenged them to a game on the condition that they visit the church if we were to win. They accepted, and we played and got to know them. They played very well and beat us. Just kidding hahaha. We beat them 10 - 4. Which was messed up, but oh well. The story gets better. So the boy´s name is Mattias, and he is 13. And the girl, about 25 years old is Yessi. The next night before coming home, Elder Holt and I stopped by the grocery store to pick some things up. Well, we saw Yessi there with her 4 year old daughter in the cart. We came up to her and started talking. She told us "After you left yesterday, I was thinking about you guys and what you do. I don´t believe in God, but it is all very interesting to me." She then told us we could stop by the next day to teach more!! And play basketball too! Her four year old daughter, who is adorable, was telling us all the words she knew in English which are: hello and green.
Just so everyone knows, I am staying here in Montevideo 5 until Sunday night. So I still have one week here. One week to tell everyone that I will be leaving. Fortunately, I will be pretty close. Well that is all for today. I am looking forward to an incredible final week here in Barrio 5! Miracles are to be found everyday. And the Lord Jesus Christ is the author of all of them. I love you all, and I love being a missionary here in Uruguay. I am truly happy.
-Elder Teloma

District Meeting

The Beverly Hills of Uruguay