Elder Vanderlinden - Uruguay Montevideo Mission

This food is called Fideos con Tuco...and as you can tell, it get's pretty old.

There are dogs everywhere!

¡Hoy, Fui a Brazil!

Hello everyone! This morning my companion and I went to Brazil! We took a short bus and went to all of the Brazilian shops. They sell tons of weird fruits and candy, for really cheap. It was super fun! However, when I went to buy all of my stuff, the lady at the counter started speaking to me in Portuguese.....I didn´t understand her at all......She realized that I could´t speak Portuguese, so she called over another worker, who then tried to talk to me in Spanish...However...His Spanish was super rough...so I just stood there.....and just started nodding my head....After a little while of awkwardness...they angrily rang up my stuff and sent me on my way. Haha. Maybe the gift of tongues only applies in gospel related situations. 

Anyways, this week was super good. I love my new area so far. The ward is really receptive, and there are a decent amount of people. Last week at church we had around 100 people. When I closed my eyes, for a second it almost felt like I was in an American ward. In Uruguay, 100 people in church is fantastic. Most wards have around 30-50 people, and there are a handful of smaller wards and stakes, where the church services are held in a small house or room. Those services, as you can imagine, only have about 10-20 members. Since we are so far away from the city, our area contains a Pueblito, a super small village, that has one family of church members. They travel to our church, every Sunday.

The area is progressing very well, and my companion and I are working really hard to find some new investigators. Right now, we have one investigator, with a Baptismal date on the 26th, but for now, that is just a goal. We are extremely hopeful that we will be able to find some more people this week. However, for now, we are visiting a lot of less actives....I had a chance to glance at the ward records...and there are 1500 listed members.........the church attendance is 100....... Stay strong folks! Haha

 Have a great week!

-Elder Vanderlinden

Quote of the week: "What seems as bitter trials are often blessings in disguise."