My 1st Transfer is down.....No Longer the Newb.

OOOOOOHHHHHH Man is Bolivia full of surprises every week!

(I promise I am not as fat as my pictures make it seem. I am
actually losing weight)

Had my first zone conference on Wednesday and that was really good! It was my first transfer and we lost some elders and gained some.  I'll be here for at least one more transfer. We have a new greenie this week, but I haven't met him yet.  Also got to see my old MTC buddies (Minus a few)

We may be moving to a new casa so we went and checked out some options.  If it happens, it will likely be in December sometime.  I also got to speak to my Mission President for the first time after meeting him when I arrived in Bolivia.

One of the best parts of the week....and investigator here has a pet monkey named Crispy.  Here are a couple of pics, but check out the videos I sent over **

Elder Estarita and I helped one of our familes that was struggling with some bills.  We didn't do much, but we know that what we did do was a blessing for them and for us.  They have done so much for us and giving back was the least we could do and it made our hearts ache to see them struggling over what seemed to us to be small issues, but they weren't to them.  My mission call didn't say, "Called To Preach and Convert", it said, "Called To Serve".

This week had its ups and downs and I had to get myself out of being discouraged at one point because of canceled appointments, etc.  Prayer and a visit to a small tienda for a treat helped get me back on track.

We got to bless the home of one of our favorite families this week too.  It was very spiritual and made their day and our day too.

We also taught a woman this week wearing a "Kalvin Klain" shirt hahahahahaha. Love it.

Finished our first transfer with 3 baptisms and I met many amazing families! Still in the same area for this transfer and I am super excited to see what these next 6 weeks have in store.
The food continues to be amazing as always.

New Planners for the next transfer!

Part of a letter from Dad about his conversion....All the
letters from home help me a lot

 

 

Best investigator question yet...."Did we come from monkeys?"

Read my journal entires below for more weekly details.

Ciao and love to everyone,

Elder Connor deCocq

** Dad Note:  I included some videos from Elder deCocq, but they don't link in the email notifications that are sent out from the blog  Click on this link to see the videos directly on the blog

 My journal entradas:

Close to the End of My First Transfer....Time is Flying!

Holy cow time just flies here I can´t believe it´s almost the end of my first transfer. Time for a weekly recap:

Cookin' eggs, boi!

Learning to cook eggs better.
Lots of new investigators and people who are loving learning about the gospel. The people here are all super amazing.
The food here is amazing because we were blessed with the best pension chef in the world.

Had our final district meeting for this transfer and of course I'm the most unphotogenic person on the planet but here are some pictures from that experience hahahaha.

Finally got to teach an English lesson and I had 3 people...score!  I wish it had been more, but zero showed up last week, so ya...

But yeah life here is muy chevere and I am digging every second of it. At times it is hard but if there is one thing I have learned in these first 5 weeks here is that with Faith in the Lord, True faith, anything is possible. And I mean anything.

Oh yeah, we may be changing casas.  This one is getting smaller all the time.  We are going to look at new ones this week.

That´s all for this week. Check out my journal entries here for more details on my weekly adventures as well.

Challenge:  If everyone in the world treated one another with even a fraction of how we are served here as missionaries by these people, this world would be so much more amazing.  I challenge all of you to go out and there this week and wholeheartedly give service to someone else, no matter how small a gesture.  Make someone's day brighter.

Chau and Love,
Elder Connor Ryan deCocq

My Weekly Journal Entradas:

   

A 'Not Feeling So Well' Estarita

Quality gym equipment, endorsed by the
International Weightlifting Association and OSHA.
 "La necesidad es la madre de la invencion"

 

The Field is White Already to Harvest....plus, Awesome Splits & 'Kalvin Cline'

** Dad Note:  Not much in Elder deCocq's email this week but more detail in his journal entires (see photos).  Not many pics either.....we told him to start taking more photos with HIM in them too!

Another week down here in paradise. The weather is bipolar, the people are all willing to listen to the missioanries and the food continues to get better and better!

No baptisms this week but next week we should have 3 so that is super excting to the see the testimonies of these wonderful people grow!

The culture here is very differnt but i am becoming more accustomed to it every day and the spanish is progressing really well. Cada día i am able to speak and understand more.

I also bought a golden chinese cat from a small tienda. Worth every Boliviano.
Other than that another good week and everything is starting to pick up. Mucha genta buena. Learning to love the mission and I am excited for what next week brings.

 

P-Day bowling with the Zone.

Now I'm skito proof 

If you ever buy 'Kalvin Cline' apparel at the swap meet, this is
where it comes from, apparently.  Geeez...

{Video}  Elder deCocq prepping for English lesson.  The videos don't render in the blog email announcements so you'll need to go to the blog page itself to view (click) if it isn't showing here below

                                                Prepping for an English Lesson

Two Months Out...I'm Getting Better at This, Baptisms, Miracle Ankles, & Sacrament Bread That Was just...'Bread'

"I didn´t get all I wanted, But God gave me all I needed."

Two months out already!  So this week was by far the best for me so far in Bolivia!!!! I got to experience miracles, eat more bomb food and the people here are all just amazing! Pique Macho is by far the best food I have ever eaten.

Amazing Pique Macho.....

Last week Elder Estarita and I gave a Priesthood blessing to a man who got his ankle broken because someone hit him with a bat and his ankle was bigger than 4 golf balls. He asked us to give him a blessing of health so we did and went on our way and less than 2 full days later we went back and that same man was walking on his leg again without the crutches and the swelling was miniscule! >Through faith in the Lord, miracles are possible.

9 Year old Gladys Troncos on her
amazing baptism day

We had another baptism for Gladys Troncos and she´s is the sweetest little girl ever! The baptismal font was clogged so we got to fish the water out with buckets! So yeah that was fun too.

Ghost Elder deCocq and Elder Estarita

Elder Estarita and me bailing out the clogged font

Got a surprise box from Mom, Dad, & Kolleen on Thursday that was delivered by Sister Kitty Rolapp from Highland, UT, who is visiting here in her home country for 3 weeks.  This made my day and my comp's, Elder Estarita, since they put a surprise in there for him too.  You have to read my experience in my journal entires below of Sister Rolapp's testimony of this work in Bolivia that she related to my mom and dad.  It changed me and was very powerful.  I can't wait to meet her! 

Bolivian Sister Rolapp from Utah and her quote
that made such an impact on me I added it to her
picture that Dad sent me

P-Day was fun today so far.....we had a zone conference and headed to downtown Santa Cruz by micro (small busses that run the same routes all the time) to meet the rest of the zone.  We all went bowling and got Papa John's Pizza!  Yes, they have some 'back home' things here too.

Killed scorpion number two in the house also this week so that was awesome! Other than that another week down and I can´t wait to see what this next week has in store! *** If you want to see my day to day blessings, miracles, fun, antics, & humor, read my journal entires below.

Ciao!    ~ Elder Connor deCocq

"We all have significant opportunity to practice Christianity, and we should try it at every opportunity. For example, we can all be a little more forgiving. In latter-day revelation the Lord said: “My disciples, in days of old, sought occasion against one another and forgave not one another in their hearts; and for this evil they were afflicted and sorely chastened. “Wherefore, I say unto you, that ye ought to forgive one another; for he that forgiveth not his brother his trespasses standeth condemned before the Lord; for there remaineth in him the greater sin. “I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required to forgive all men.”"  - Howard W. Hunter

My Journal Entries (easier to read on tablet, laptop, or desktop):

Other assorted Randomness:

Floods are just a common thing here...you
just go around them

Not quite my bed at home (which I miss), but it works

Horses just....'roam' around here

Titi, our adopted pet cat

Video:  When spiny chancho 'snout' meat doesn't cut it....feed the cat!

(even Titi started turnng it down)