December, 28th 2015 - A Picture's Worth a Thousand Words

A glimpse of the variety of beautiful flowers and plants all over the place down here. Brings a little smile to my face every time to see some diverse creation of our Heavenly Father that I never even knew existed before hand.

A Ken Block tribute... the people here like to deck out their cars to make them look like they're from Fast and Furious or Need for Speed....it's pretty funny to see a Toyota Corolla with under glow and a fin....

My companion and I can butt heads at times.... but it's a little hard to stay angry sometimes when he makes me full blown pancakes (VERY RARE in bolivia). 

Paired with the various plants and flowers..... there are more fruits here than I thought were even edible. This thing is called a ..... yea I don't even remember.... kinda tastes like a lemon starburst!

More than half our area is dirt roads.... and occasionally with lots of rain.... some sinkholes show up. First and only time I've seen this... the workers had to shovel all the sand out of the back of it onto the side of the "road" before a tractor very dangerously pulled it out with a cable that was literally going to snap at any second.... don't ask me why they ship more sand in in dump trucks when half the city is made of sand.

The rumors were somewhat true of the crazy food I've had to eat here. I've had cow utter, chicken stomach and heart, and this was my most recent: cow tongue... a little chewy for my liking... almost gagged thinking if the animal could somehow magically still taste me tasting it. Chicken and rice is in 99.99% of my meals here. Cow meat is a little more rare, maybe one in every 3-5 meals.

One night we had to turn our power out because they were power surges and we didn't want our AC to break (although it did later and we had to wait a week to get it fixed) so we planned to candle light... pretty enjoyable actually.

Oh the joys of Bolivian insects... this thing seems to have traveled a long way from the ocean floor somewhere.... and you'll notice in comparison to my plaque.... its shell is slightly larger than a golf ball.... a little smaller than a raquetball. Didn't have my camera with me when I saw a caterpillar the size of a small snake with an inch and a half diameter.

Yet another insect.... these ones luckily just like to eat plants, tomatoes in this case. If you're not within 10 feet or so of a solid ant hill or marching ant line.... then you're probably not in Bolivia either.

About 100% of the people here are Catholic or have been at some point in their life... a little difficult to teach sometimes.... if you look closely, you'll notice even this beetle on my desk is carrying a cross.... a common symbol for the Catholic church to use.

There was a motorcycle accident with a head on collision with a car RIGHT across the street from where we were teaching a few nights ago... the motorcyclist do not respect other drivers on the road around here and it's not good that about half the vehicles around here are motorcycles. We heard all made it out of the accident alive.

There are TONS of dogs, cats, chickens, roosters, etc. in the street.... many of them poorly cared for :/ pretty difficult to see at times.... but I occasionally recognize the bark of a mini doberman pinscher (just like my dog Heidi) and give them a little badly needed love.

Bonus pic for my photography skills ;)

December 21st, 2015 - The Christmas Season

Fam bam and friends,

Well cambios passed and looks like I should be here in Antofagasta at least til the end of January, one fourth of my mission here.

With my recent aches and pains my companion thought it would be funny to give me this quote he found from Elder Bednar: " The limitations that are the natural consequence of advancing age can in fact become remarkable sources of spiritual learning and insight." :J -.- Well dandy.... 20 years old seems to have hit me pretty hard, ha ha.

Being close to Christmas.... I don't have much specially prepared except this..... I have a firm belief that Christ can change our hearts and lives. I am still trying to find and fully take advantage of that but try to imagine the peace, silence, and joy of the Savior's birth.... let that fill you with strength this Christmas season.... rather than focus on His life and suffering that was to come later.... this season is about his birth.

I'll try to fit 12 random Bolivia facts in to commemorate the 12 days of Christmas with what time I have left.

Very few houses have AC.... ours is one of them and it broke for a week a while back.... super hot!

There are very few weed eaters and lawnmowers down here.... I think I've seen maybe 3 or 4

There are no vacuums

No leaf blowers

No grass

Tons of butterflies, huge ones

TONS of different fruits....

Oops, no time!

December 14th, 2015

Friends and Family,

Sorry to be brief once again, focusing on individual letters this week. The seasons are switched as I am on the other side of the equator and it is near 100 degrees and 80% humidity every day in pure church clothes so one could say that you are literally living in a toaster! Hard to believe it is almost Christmas when it is this hot! Been praying for you all to have the strength, discipline, and energy to do the things you need to during the holidays when times can be challenging for many. Love you all, hopefully a more general email to come in a sec if I don't get too behind.

Love,

Elder Van Horne

December 7th, 2015 - When Your Week is Weak

Fam and Friends,

Whelp... our key indicators are going up and we're trying to do more activities with our ward. We're going to watch meet the Mormons in Spanish tonight at a member's house so we can have the members invite more investigators and get references. We got the entire event set up ourselves, projector, speakers, chairs, empanadas, the movie, invitations, popcorn, drinks, time, place, etc..... miraculously since there's not a single time in our missionary schedule to figure out details like that.
Our air conditioning broke this week.... my amount of sleep dropped drastically with that while bug bite count skyrocketed. Kind of a uneventful week. More next week. Love you all. Sorry for the lame, short email. Oh well. :) haha

Elder Van Horne

November 30th, 2015 - Nothing but Changes

My family (whether you're blood-related or not),

Well I haven't written a good general email in a while so I figured I better catch you all up on some things. 3 P-days ago we went on the coolest zone activity trip ever to a MASSIVE botanical garden and nature reserve almost an hour out of our area by taxi. I'll try to get some of the sweet pics in because that's the best way to explain it. One of the tender mercies of Bolivia that made me want to come back more in the future after my mission and realize there's a little more to this country than the sandy city of Bolivia. It was pretty incredible how many mosquitoes were there.... I was constantly doing an interesting squirming dance walk in order to hit or brush off mosquitoes wherever we walked which seemed to work well as I came out with many less bug bites than the rest of my zone.

Two weeks ago I had my second interview with president (we only have one every 3 months with him apart from the introductory and final interviews... so 10 in total our whole mission and they're always too short). This interview really changed my life though.... we focused on various struggles in Bolivia. I just wanted to share some paraphrased quotes from that interview to show just how amazingly inspired my president is and that I was SO meant to come to this mission and be here with him... what a blessing he is. He said that he was just honored to meet with me.... comparing me to Abraham the prophet. He mentioned we were twins 25 yrs (más or menos) apart. He said I literally made his day with our interview....he mentioned that he gets home at the end of the day and has his list of things he doesn't/didn't like about Bolivia or that day just like me as we both struggle with getting discouraged at times... but that he finds his joy in the work of the Lord and doing things just like what he was doing in comforting and supporting me in our interview. I felt nothing but humbled once again in getting to spend that extremely precious time with the best president for me in the entire world who made me feel like his single child. Right after my interview I got to talk with his wife for a little bit and she mentioned that it was a compliment for both President Willard and I that he said we were twins 25 years apart.... and that her and President Willard noticed something special in me from the first day I got here. :') It was exactly what I needed to hear after some very difficult weeks here in the mission.

Recently I also talked with the leading, set-apart missionary psychologist for all of South America about some things I can do stay positive. Boy, it's not all too fun admitting that I need help to deal with some of the problems I've had here in the field... but they really have given me some serious support and help to change my life for the better. Not to mention the theme of my mission this far has been nothing but humility among so many incredible missionaries, many of whom started much younger than me in the mission field as well as living in such a poor country. Dr. Rayside wants me to work on redefining what it means to be successful out here in the mission field... I've come to find that my area is a very diffcult one.... we haven't had a progressing investigator for 3 and a half months now much less a baptism. So I'm working on finding ways to redefine my success and find joy in that and not get discouraged over the lack of that. Also I'm working on some techniques found in a book called Adjusting to Missionary Life that honestly should be in every home in the entire world and has amazing tips for any stressful situation. I'd love if you could look into that and see if you can find a copy or read some. Anyway.... what I've come to find this week is that I am surprisingly making a good amount of success in overcoming my challenges or rather that Christ has helped me overcome.... I honestly haven't done much. Anyway... I'm feeling much happier!

I'd love to hear some feedback on your conference talk review assignments by the way! ;)
We had two intercambios this week! Pics to come. I loved them both.... especially my one with Argentinian (Gaucho as they call em here in Bolivia) Elder Castro.... SO HAPPY and talkative.... LOVE that guy.... what a shining example for me..... high hopes for a companion like him in the future.

This past Tuesday marked a FIFTH of my mission! O.O Wow it really does go by fast.... even when certain days seem to last forever. I'm feeling more like a 20 year old with every day... finding my own joy and happiness, being paradoxically more indepent in general as well as dependent on the Lord. I still pray for, think about, and love you all with every passing day and hour. I think about and pray for you to overcome your personal difficulties, realize the importance of applying every gospel principle in your life with better exact obedience every day, and that you may come closer to Christ. Let me know if you would like me to pray for something in particular for you because I have found greater power in my prayers here on my mission than in ANY other time in my life and seen miracles with that.

The Lord gave us some tender mercies this week with MANY new investigators.... one of which, 54 year old carpenter Sergio Salazer who is the first to complete every commitment we have given him, share our message with his whole family who is gaining interest and reading materials as well now, and has read all the way through 1 Nephi 14 in half a week.... never having seen missionaries before! High hopes! 

Love you all.

Elder Van Horne

Please read 2 Nephi 33:3-4 as my conclusion to this email. I can relate to Nephi at the end of his writings here in the Book of Mormon comparing my end of my writings to you this week and every week.

My intercambio on Tuesday well Peruvian Elder Gómez....teaches with a lot of power.

A service project Wednesday morning.... I've never sweated as much as I did that day.... my goodness I hope I don't get sent somewhere hotter pretty soon here.

Intercambio with lo máximo Elder Castro.... so funny and happy.... got to be with him for his birthday the morning after (thursday morning) when we took this pic. Gave him a watch and a tie bar. He turned 22. He has 22 months in the mish too. We traded ties too (the ones we're wearing in the pic).

The taxi ride back from the botanical gardens.... we saved a little cash mun by fitting 8 missionaries in one car with a driver haha....

A tree growing right into the trail.... practically limbo for us gringos on the trip....

A sweet outlook tower in the middle of the park....

Man it was nice to get out of the city and see the side of Bolivia I was expecting before the mish. More to come next week. :)

November 23rd, 2015 - The Character of Christ

My Beloved Everyone,

Well this week was pretty incredible and I have 5 minutes to express it all. Sweeeeet haha.... um yea.... I'll work on that. Anyway I had my 2nd interview with mission president Willard. He compared me to Abraham who had to sacrifice Isaac and told me another detail that the heiroglyphic in the scriptures is of Abraham almost being sacrificed by a wicked priest in his childhood so he already had bad feelings and struggles with sacrifice... if there was a more acute way to test Abraham.... the Lord would have done it.... If there was a more acute, intense, or extreme way that the Lord could have tested me.... he would have done it.

Something I am proud in telling you all.... is that I have many faults and weaknesses that I strive every day to change into strengths. We may be having no progressing investigators or baptisms.... for my whole mission thus far but I am successful in my commitment to the work. I love you all... change your perspective and definition of success.

Love Elder Van Horne

Here is a letter with instructions regarding shipping packages:

Elders and Sisters,

Many of your parents have sent packages through private carriers and it has been hard for us to get them out of customs. Please advise your parents and send them this information today so we can avoid all future problems.

Only send packages or letters through the national postal (USPS) service and not a private carrier such as FedEx, UPS, or DHL.

Packages from parents can only weight up to 2 kilograms (4.409 lbs) or there will be problems when picking them up.

The mission cannot pay any amount of money to get packages out of customs. If parents want to pay to be able to take a package out of customs, they can send an email to the mission secretaries and they will coordinate any payment details. (Mission Email:2013517@ldschurch.org)

Only send packages with Elder/Hermana and their full name to the following address:

Elder/ Hermana

Misión Bolivia Santa Cruz

Casilla de Correo 2042

Zona Central

Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz

Bolivia

(It is very important that the Elder or Hermana comes before the name of the missionary)

If your parents follow these points, there will not be problems. Just remember these 2 very important things.

1. Only send through the national postal service.

2. It cannot weigh more than 4.409 pounds.

November 16th, 2015 - Conference Talks Belated Revelation

Well this past week has been rather interesting. I came to deeply understand the character of Christ this week. For each of your to better understand what I mean by that, I invite you to read the talk "Character of Christ" by Elder Bednar from the BYU Idaho Religion Symposium in January of 2003 especiall the quote "Perhaps the greatest indicator......a consistent and charitable character." I found just how difficult it is to turn outward and seek to give the exact blessings we lack and desire to those around us in the moment when it is most difficult. I can't really describe this last week any better than putting my shoulder up against a rather immovable boulder and pushing with every fiber of my being just to find that it hasn't moved.... and after some serious exertion, and a fight, emotionally, mentally, spiritually, and physically.... I actually lost myself in the work of the Lord for at least a while. That I found my life by losing it... for my companion, for a family walking in the streets of Bolivia, for a lost sheep who hasn't attended church in months, and many others.

There is true strength, sense of achievement, and love of Christ found in turning to others when you yourself are in the greatest time of need. The Lord seems to drag me pulling nearly all the weight some days.... but this week I found more often than not how to do my part in this work.

I've been meaning to do this for a while but I thought pretty intensely about all of you during this past conference and felt particularly inspired to ask you to reread or review the following talks possibly keeping my point of view in mind. Good spiritual homework ;) at least get one in this week..... please. Here are some that I think are worth taking a second look at:

Saturday morning: Uchtdorf, Marriott, Viñas

Saturday afternoon: Holland, Oaks, Uchtdorf, Hales

Sunday morning: Holland, Lawrence

Sunday afternoon: Bednar

Separate from conference but talks I recently read and LOVED: Feed My Sheep by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland. Please find some time for your favorite mish in the field who loves and prays for all of you to study the words of the living prophet and apostles. :) <3

I love you all. 

Elder Van Horne

November 9th, 2015 - Put Your Shoulder to the Wheel

Well we had cambios/transfers this past Wednesday, it was a tough day! I did everything I could to not think about the best companion/missionary in the whole mission leaving me to go back home, such a bittersweet feeling having him leave, but happy to see him progressing. My new companion, Elder Gilbert, has 15 months in the mission, is now the district leader, and I am still in my first area Antofagasta in our pretty nice house. He seems to be perfectly content and even keeled no matter what happens. He has gotten used to Bolivia as he says. He's a great guy and doesn't seem to get tired! I'm well aware that losing your trainer is difficult for everyone and this will take some getting used to as well but this past week has been harder than I anticipated. Elder Garcia will be missed!

The closest thing to a miracle I found is that when I put my shoulder to the wheel harder than I ever have before in my life, I feel so fulfilled and happy. I think this is a good lesson to take away, that truly when we lose ourselves in the Lord and His service, we can find ourselves.

PLEASE pray for my strength, increased courage to talk with everyone and have the gift of tongues, and.... to find true joy in this difficult work.

The sisters in our ward seem to miraculously be baptizing people every other week! It can be challenging to stay positive when trying to seek out investigators and encourage them to complete their assignments, but perseverance is the key to success. 

Anyway, other stuff.... I ate some rabbit a few weeks back.... that was pretty exciting and sad... please watch The District videos if you get the chance.... we have to watch a clip and practice teaching EVERY single day until we can do it in our sleep. The mission in Bolivia is a whole 'nother WORLD compared to the church in the United States.... the church has only been here for 50 yrs... and some people are hearing about it for the first time, but just as a seed is planted, it will grow. :)

2 Nephi 2:21 is pretty cool paired with the idea that we should obey the word of wisdom and our parents so that our days may be long upon the land. I believe that if we keep the commandments we have the blessing of living longer on the Earth, our unique time in all the eternities to be in this place and learn in the way we do, mastering our bodies and the natural man. What a blessing to be given more time upon the Earth to become more perfect and live more.

.....Anyway.... please.... prayer harder than you ever have.... I'm going to need it this week.... I love you and pray for you all and think and pray for you even in my trials. The Lord continues to strengthen me to push forward.

Love,

Elder Van Horne

Elder Garcia

Elder Gilbert

November 2nd, 2015 - The Mission Rollercoaster

Bolivian trailblazing a path into very unknown territory with only the Lord at our side. Sorry for so little this week, I focused on personal letters this time around, more to come next week! :)

October 26th, 2015 - The Quick Update

Well this hour and a half is just a little too stressful sometimes. I found out a few weeks back that the massive box of bananas that the member family gave us had 130 bananas in it that we ate in about 2 weeks haha.... pretty amazing.

I happened upon some cool personal revelation a while back regarding time. It mentions in the scriptures something along the lines of 1000 years of our time being a day in the Lord's time and time not really mattering to Him. I've come to recognize that as I am in the work of the Lord..... I seem to feel that way at times too. I definitely got off the plane in the CCM in Lima, Peru last week. It seems to be that as we try to manage taking on an infinitely small fraction of the work that the Lord does out here int he mission field.... we get the slightest glimpse of what time should really feel like. As members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints we know that the amount of time we have here on Earth is very small in comparison to the eternity in which or spirits live. The ONLY reason to keep track of time here on Earth is because this mortal life has a beginning and end.... afterwards time doesn't matter because we are living in an eternity.

One other cool piece of revelation.... I had to carry a box of about 31 Libros de Mormón almost a mile in PURE sauna heat and a suit from our pensionista's house to our house almost a mile a way one day a few weeks back. I came to find that it became pretty difficult at times and thought about the fact that carrying the word of God (or analogically speaking, keeping the commandments) should never feel like a burden.... that although it may seem difficult in the moment, and we might even feel sore over a small period of time after making a difficult decision to keep the commandments or carry Books of Mormon a long way.... we benefit in the long run, are blessed, and become stronger.
Anyway.... this week was REALLY rough.... depression hit me pretty hard again as we found ourselves in the true 100+ degree purely humid Bolivian weather, in church clothes (and now I have compression sleeves for my legs under my socks), to teach 2 recent convert lessons, 2 less active lessons, 3 lessons with a member, and 3 other lessons for our ENTIRE week.... spending every other second trying to find someone else to teach in the brutal heat. I also only got about 4 or 5 hours of sleep last night after waking up to throw up for a couple hours last night after eating something bad.... plus the best companion ever is leaving in a week.... The Lord has strengthened me to press forward.

Elder Van Horne

October 19th, 2015 - Winding Down Training

Family and Friends,

I had an amazing birthday yesterday and sang Un Pobre Forastero (A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief) with the ward choir and Elder Garcia for the ward conference we had yesterday. The first verse solo in Spanish, the 5th verse in English with Elder Garcia, and all the other verses except verse 6 with a choir of about 15 ppl in front of 201 people at ward conference.... I've found my talent for singing has only increased as I have prayed for it to touch the hearts of others. I've also sung at 2 baptisms just on the spot with no practice in full Spanish.

I had 4 different types of pizza, brownies, way to much coca cola, cake, and cinnamon rolls yesterday on top of receiving some foreign money, a sweet sweater, and a little Bolivian key chain as gifts and a beautiful picture of the Payson, UT temple that Elder Garcia wrote on the back of for me.... so I guess you could say the members are pretty amazing here in our ward. :)

I started reading a chapter of the Book of Mormon and El Libro de Mormón each morning during personal study and I'm already in 2 Nefi 13 now. :) Way cool way to learn the stories, doctrine, and Spanish.

We found a guy that is from Indiana in our area, speaks Spanish too, professional CrossFit trainer that has opened Bolivia's only 5 CrossFit gyms, but shattered his knee cap recently, his name is Mark Hooley, we're hoping to get a teaching appointment with him soon.

Everything is going great.... still don't ever have enough time to say everything I want to.... but I'm adjusting nicely to everything. The real heat is kicking in down here as we move into summer.... I invite you to check the weather and humidity sometime for this area when you get the chance or possibly just step into the nearest sauna in full missionary attire and then try to teaching a gospel lesson in a language you don't know haha.

Transfers will be in the first week of November, I should be staying here.... hopefully training. Elder Garcia leaves me November 1st or 2nd, and goes home on the 6th. SUPER sad and started bawling in our last zone conference this week when he gave his final testimony.... he's been an absolute answer to prayers.... I hope you all get to meet him and he can tell you more about our adventures (lives in Mapleton, UT).

Love you all.

Love,

Elder Van Horne

It rained pretty hard a few weeks back. Got surprisingly cold.... good thing we were prepared.

October 12th, 2015 - Pic

Suited out for conference last week.

October 5th, 2015

TONS of spiritual revelation this week, all written down and recorded for later, PLEASE review and treasure up continually the words of the prophets especially this last conference that was AMAZING! Rough time with all investigators this week because we had a ton of meetings but I made a TON of progress. Amazingly cool and cloudy weather the whole week, an obvious answer to my and I'm sure many other's prayers to stay out of the low 100's practically 100% humidity typical weather to Bolivia. Several intercambios I've had with other missionaries these past few weeks has solidified my urgency to ingrain all of the incredible talents and techniques that my trainer and companion easily puts into practice on the daily and so far I have made a lot of progress preparing to be a trainer myself if the need be. I only have him until November 1st and then he goes home on November 6th.... sad day.

Our pensionista got us some sweet customized mini white boards I've been using to learn new Spanish vocab and he also got us a little Bolivian whistle key chain.... so cool of him. Their family is awesome. Got some great compliments from president and wife this past week when they randomly stopped by our district meeting again (RARE for everyone else) they are AMAZED at my progress and excellence and Spanish abilities.... so I'm sure a tough calling is soon to come. Conference was an English SANCTUARY for me this week.... so comforting and wonderful.
....I've been called to this tough of an area for a mission because the Lord knew I could handle it and grow more because of it.... I tackled that challenge this week and have grown exponentially so.... LOVING the mission life!

We don't get to see too much wildlife since we're in the city but I have seem one huge lizard that was too fast for me to get a pic of, some sweet butterflies, dogs, cats, chickens, roosters, various parrots and other birds.

September 28th, 2015 - The Missionary Life: Making a Man

My dear friends and family,

Well... emailing is quite hectic as I've explained before and I always have TONS to say but things are chilling down rather quickly. I would have loved to tell you all about these incredible experiences with progressing investigators getting baptized every week like I imagined before, but unfortunately the missionary life has become depressingly realistic.... I have wasted quite a good amount of time simply adjusting to everything; all of walking which is I don't even know how many miles a day through basically sand, trash, and rocks which make up about 80% of the city to find impossibly confusing addresses (or no find them) in 100 degree near 100% humidity weather in full church clothes carrying a heavy over the shoulder bag with all the necessities miles away from your house and teaching tools including a massive bible and triple in Spanish, no dinner except street store snacks and food from members, the nonstop work, Spanish, and the ultimate brain block that comes when I try to do anything in this language, it seems like I'm just saying words and can't really express myself.... which is REALLY hard for me at times because more than scriptures or ANYTHING else, I've explained the gospel through stories and personal testimony. Every hour brings a new life-changing sometimes overwhelmingly difficult challenge. These past few weeks though have been incredibly great. I have ultimately developed very strong legs and feet, better Spanish than most missionaries at this phase in their mission, a good amount of all the qualities my incredible trainer has, and a strong independence and paradoxically dependence on the Lord in all things.
EVERYONE down here is EXTREMELY polite and shakes your hand on average 3 times in a simple passing street visit and is often very willing to listen.... but the hardness of hearts is rather difficult to plant the seeds of the gospel in. Not to be negative but we haven't found more than maybe 1 or 2 investigators in my month and a half here that MAY be willing to change their whole lives and live the gospel.... not a single baptism since the one we had from other's efforts 4 days into my mission here. There's a new church wide rule that an investigator must come to church 3 times before being baptized and it has cut down on the number of baptisms infinitely so.... but it's for the best because we have more inactives and less actives from past generations than our entire mission could bring back to the church just in our area.

I've had some incredible spiritual gifts of having incredibly specific answers to my prayers out here that I've talked to some of you individually about and that helps me a lot (being the perfectionist I so often am) that I'm living worthily enough to receive and recognize those answers to prayers every week. I've also been amazingly able to remember very old stories from my past through the Spirit in lessons that perfectly help people better understand and gain testimonies of specific principles. I've been speaking the language INCREDIBLY well and the gist of tongues is real EVERY day out here. I just lack a lot of new vocabulary and nit-picky grammar which will come with time and practice. I've also received some REALLY cool personal revelation on a daily basis.

Some of this really cool revelation.... God does not take our steps for us.... it is by grace we are saved AFTER ALL WE CAN DO. If we listen carefully under the spirit of prayer, the Lord will guide, correct, and mold our steps as we walk along the straight and narrow helping us to avoid cliffs and holes in the road.... but he will never take our steps for us, we have to take them and keep walking. It's vital to remember also that there is no one perfect path for you... this thought came to me as I prayed for where to go in a lesson that my companion and I were a little stumped on. We had to take the first step and try some things and ask questions and the lesson turned out great as we tweaked our steps according to the guidance of the spirit. I shared this thought with my comp later and it was EXACTLY what he needed to hear because he's going home soon (he REALLY doesn't want to go home, isn't trunky at all, wants to be a Bolivian forever and teach here.... amazing example for everyone) and has to move on and choose a career which he was really worried about. Often times the revelation we receive is exactly what those close to us need to here.... we also understand it better by teaching it.

More later because I'm running out of time again but we had a WONDERFUL blessing of overcast, cloudy, cool, breezy weather these past 2 days and today. I had an incredible intercambio this week and found out what I was made of and that I know how to do more than I thought I did and every day I'm feeling more and more like I'm almost 20 yrs old rather than the teenager I was before my mission.... that's what the mission will do to you I guess.... absolutely an answer to prayers as I've been praying to become the missionary I need to be for the people here and become the man I need to be for my future family after my mission.

Read chapter 4 in Preach My Gospel, it's amazing, lean unto the Lord in ALL thy doings. I love you all.

Random fact: I wish I had kept a bug bite and bug kill count because I'm definitely in the hundreds on bites, Denge and Chikenguña are sure to come and I'm in the thousands on mosquito, fly, and cockroach kill count haha, no worries mom and dad ;) all is well and bugs are immune to repellent down here. Missionary life still doesn't really seem real but it's more and more real every day. Our pensionista's daughter's name is Cielo.... I guess it's not really a guys name dang it, but don't tell anyone because I still want that to be my nickname when I get back haha. We made some BOMB banana bread last night with some members. Missionary life is more and more fun and enjoyable EVERY day.

Sincerely,

Elder Van Horne

End of our intercambio from Friday afternoon to Saturday afternoon this past week. Elder Sperry and Elder Rico on the right. Elder Sperry is from Draper, Utah and has a twin brother in ROSEVILLE, CA on his mish right now!

This little guy was in our kitchen this week. (From email 9/21/15)

September 14th, 2015 - Settled In

My beloved friends and Family,

Alright I don't really remember what I said about my daily schedule from last week but we are working non-stop out here and it's WAY different from the states. I'm having a lot of firsts out here like shining shoes for the first time, cooking eggs for my comp, drinking soda from a bag, eating a little cooked cow utter.... it's really exciting.... I'm LOVING trying all these new things. Our house is right next to the SUPER rich, probably millionaire Choquevillca family whose son Mauro just left on his mission a few weeks back to Trujillo, Peru. We have about 4 or more elders out of our ward alone here which is WAY cool and 2 more putting in their papers right now and about 5 more preparing and coming to teach with us a TON. WAY cool! I've been giving away tie bars, a few gnarled up ties, vials, and watches like crazy because there hasn't been a single report of things getting stolen from missionaries out here for a really long time and that's half the reason I had all that stuff... Anytime I give anything away though... it's rarely even that expensive and definitely not something I need, but it's to people that REALLY make a difference for us.... by coming to teach with us almost EVERY day of the week, giving us rides to tons of places instead of us having to walk and they treat it like GOLD wearing their watch, tie, or tie bar EVERY day they get the chance and thanking me for it because it's usually the ONLY one they have.... way humbling and cool. No worries mom or dad, I'm not giving away ALL my stuff and you know how much I love my ties, tie bars, watches, etc. Our house is right next to the Choquevillca's massive plaza I should say where they have their massive banana shipping semis pulling in and out to get fixed up and loaded with bananas on the daily.... it's not even fair how rich they are and how awesome the guys are that work on their trucks. They love to BLARE music which makes it a little difficult to study in the morning especially since basically no one down here understands the strictness and importance of the missionary rules down here. Kind of a tender mercy though because they play some pretty sick music and half of it is the American good electronic pop in English from back home.... which all of which i'm not supposed to be listening to or focusing on. Just a tender mercy and a curse at the same time. The people here struggle quite a bit with fulfilling their callings and our investigators REALLY struggle with keeping ANY commitments. Half our appointments fall through every day. We rarely get help with missionary work except from the teens getting prepped to go on missions and a few other golden members that help us. EVERYONE listens to our message.... and then wastes our time by not keeping commitments and displaying after several appointments that they're really not interested or willing to change.... more next week. Gotta get some pics in :/

Elder Van Horne

We had a multi-zone conference with Elder Uceda from the 1st quorum of the 70 this past Wednesday. This is me and my district with him and mission pres. and wife. WAY COOL guy.... VERY spirited. Understood the WHOLE conference..... which was completely in Spanish. :j I guess Bolivians have some of the worst Spanish so practicing understanding them all the time made it WAY easy to understand someone with really good Spanish.

September 7th, 2015 - How Time Flies - 2 Months in the Mish

My dear friends and family,

Alright, this is going to be kinda scattered but I've got a bunch of stuff I've been wanting to tell you all. First of all, always try to send pics, never worry if you've written too little, this little hour and a half is plenty stressful with what I already get haha. I take pics of all my emails and pics you've sent me to review in down time throughout the week if I ever get any. I've even thought that if they're aren't things you want me to answer or address right away to just put a little note and I can take a pic and read it later in the week so I can use this time more efficiently, that would help a TON.

Okay whoops, I wasn't done with that. I learned a while back how frustrating it is to be unable to perfectly explain gospel principles to people because of a language barrier and had the personal revelation that I'm learning to express these gospel truths in the simplest way possible and what a blessing that is rather than using my own words to relish or possibly complicate the message further... sometimes a simple testimony is all we can and need to offer these people. Which, especially for these people who often know so little about these gosepl truths, is perfect. Since I've viewed it in that light the language has come 100 times more easily to me. I don't exactly know what the definition for fluent is, but I feel like I'm pretty much there. If I focus enough I can understand the gyst of whatever anyone is saying and I can ALWAYS express what I'm trying to say. What a blessing.... that I've been humbled even down to the dust of the earth every day and in turn been teachable enough to receive the VAST gift of tongues, personal revelation, and answers to prayers that I have received in this short time on my mission.

Okay.... these computers are ghetto haha sorry for accidentally splitting this email up a ton. I sadly can never express everything I want to say in these emails but no worries, I've almost hit page 300 in my journal.... good thing I brought about 5 of them, I have over 600 pictures, and I write in my agenda/planner, my journal, and a study journal every day so I'll have plenty of what some other people call the plates of Elder Van Horne to bring home and share further details with you all.

I also wanted to testify of having a scripture marking system and especially recommend buying a little book by Sandra B. Black about a scripture marking system. I makes studying the scriptures infinitely more interesting and enjoyable. My brand new English quad is filling up wuick with colorful markings and annotations :) PLEASE check that out.

Alright, My average day... wake up at 6:29am (1 minute earlier than usual as directed by mission president.), companionship prayer, personal prayer, put my contacts in, exercise: sometimes we run a little first, we have two hand weights in our house, I'm getting pretty yoked and go hard in the paint for every workout, not to mention that my legs are ripped from walking like 5 miles every day. We usually play church music on our little speakers as we get ready, breakfast: cereal (granola and Bolivian Frosted Flakes), yogurt, sometimes a banana and leche con avena sabor a canela, shower, finish getting ready, 8am personal prayer, personal study: scriptures and preach my gospel for the first 12 weeks, then missionary library books are allowed too and other church talks, 9am: comp prayer, comp study: read 3 pages of missionary handbook, share personal study insights, plan for day more, study together, 10am: The First 12 Weeks: working through activities to make me a full fledged missionary with my trainer, 11am: language study for 30-60 minutes (usually 45 ish), 12pm: comp prayer, leave house for proselyting, street contacting, and appointments, 1pm: lunch at our pensionista that we usually have to wait forever for and have some downtime, 2-230pm ish: proselyte and more appointments, 9-9:30pm return to house, plan for tomorrow for half an hour with the comp starting and ending with prayer, prepare for bed, 10:29pm go to bed. Goodness I hate running out of time to email.... more on this and the people we teach next week. Check 2 Nephi 32:7 for a bit of foreshadow though.

The timers on these computers force shut it off after an hour and a half :(

You should love your trainer so much that when you're done shining his shoes, you can't tell the difference between his with 22 months and your's with 2.

First actually cool wildlife, not much around here in the city. If you whistled, it would whistle the same thing back.

The meal that made me sick all this week... only cost like 12 Bs though... under $2.... soup in a bag... everything is in a bag down here including the milk. If you buy a soda you have to buy the bottle too..... or drink it out of a bag.

Got my first Boliviano haircut last week, not bad.... He actually used a razor blade to get my sideburns and back of my neck.... only cut me twice, not bad. :j

Not many lizards or geckos down here either sadly :/

A lot of people make clothes down here with English on them.... check that tag :j

August 31st, 2015 - Update with Pics

My breakfast bundle on a good day... I kinda blew through my money for the first two weeks a little too quickly but at least my breakfasts were awesome for a little while. Leche con avena sabor canela tastes just like horchata! :D

My companion and I don't always get to wear pday clothes, but when we do.... we look gooooood.... and match apparently accidentally.

Still got a little photography skill. Goodness I wish I could send more pics.... My camera is pretty bomb and has like 4x HD photos I guess.

Heidi dogs? (Our family dog is a miniature pinscher named Heidi)

How most people get around down here on what they call Micros. One of our members owns one and that's his grand-daughter in the pic.... this is one of the cleaner ones.

VERY humbling when members that have a 2 or 3 room dirt floor house home bake brownies for you, give you their best chairs, and go buy you a drink from the nearest tienda under the light of a single light bulb.

August 24th, 2015 – Into the Bolivian

Dear friends and family,

I never have enough time to say everything that I want to.... and I'd love to say more and talk to more people.... but know that each of you have made a PROFOUND difference in my life.... I think about you more than is healthy for a missionary. I had a VERY rough time this past week having a singleness of heart, mind, and soul on the missionary purpose and I can't imagine how hard this may be.... but I need you all to pray for me to not think about you and focus on the missionary cause.... at least for right now. You are all CONSTANTLY on my mind and in my prayers and I have received MANY witnesses of the truth of how the prayers of the righteous are answered.... This is my MOST obedient time in my life and EVERYTHING I have prayed for has happened so far.... Please let me know if you need anything and ALWAYS strive to be more obedient. I'm going for almost ALL pics this week. Proselyting has been surprisingly uneventful this past week.

-Elder Van Horne 

The plane ride into Bolivia 

More from the flight.... pretty sure that's the biggest river in Bolivia 

A random investigator's bathroom I had to use last week.... just a tad short. 

Random gnarly bathroom selfie with Elder Garcia.

August 17th, 2015 - Santa Cruz de los Milagros

My dear family and friends,

Boy I have fifteen minutes left to write everything, forward a few things, and get all my pics uploaded.... here we go. Um mission pres. is like me in 40 years no joke, 6' 1" and thin build, similar school, and mission experiences so far, it is absolutely incredible. In a CCM devotional we watched two weeks back one of the apostles laid out the process of how they call missionaries and he said almost everyone has one of three impressions as to where to call a missionary: a language this missionary could use to benefit the church now and in the future, a people this missionary would work well with, and a mission president they could work well with.... I feel like I got lucky and got all three but definitely that last one. My first companion and area are both answers to prayers. His name is Elder Garcìa, North American born to Mexican parents, fluent in Spanish and English. Incredibly humble, I don't have A SINGLE problem with him at all. He's THE PERFECT first companion and has made the transition SO MUCH easier because I was overwhelmed with stress, change, and everything that I needed to adjust to in my first two or three days and mission pres. and my comp. helped me so incredibly much. I REALLY hope he's my trainer for both of my first two transfers because then I'll get to see him take off back home in 3 months, he's been out for 21 months. Our apartment is very safe, never any problems down here with things getting stolen or robbed, we have hot water for showers only. Two sinks, a bedroom, a bathroom, and a kitchen/other room inside a little gated area of a member family that ships bananas and are pretty well off. Wonderful weather this past week, a little cool and rainy. Only slightly more humid than Florida. Really not that many bugs at all. Some moths, I see about 15 flies and maybe 5 mosquitoes on the daily. About a fifth of the roads in this area are paved, the rest are dirt and rock. Rare to see 2 or 3 story houses. Nobody is really homeless though.... their houses are just all like little shanty houses. My area is called Antofagasta #1 between the roads of Cuarto Anillo, Quinto Anillo, Doble Vìa la Guarda, and Avenida Moscù.... please try to find it on Google maps on the South side of Santa Cruz de la Sierra. Having a rough time getting everything done that I need to and having the energy to do what I need to, but overall everything is wonderful. I gotta send some pics and explain more there. Only two minutes left. More next week. Love you.

Our bathroom.

My last tie trades.

First baptism... forgot to mention that. Humbling reminder that the work we do here is often reaping the seeds others have planted. 12 year olds Mike Williams.

Our room.