Supresa!! (33rd email)

Oh Dearest Familia!

PA! What an interesting week it has, I got a couple surprises for you guys! First I GOT ONE OF THE PACKAGES!!!!!!!!!!! The one with my camera cable, it was sent all the way back in March! Crazy but hey I got it now and it sooo awesome it made me so happy you dont even know! But I wondered where my other package was? Maybe they didnt get it sorted in time or Anna´s friend didnt get it in! Im not sure but its alright I will get it soon! :) Now dont feel bad.  I am hoping Anna{s friend found that camera cable and put it in the other package! Other than that the package was amazing!! Alexis those bracelets are so sick, ive already gave it to some of my friend kids here and they loved them, they wanted like 5 a piece! :) Did you make them yourself? And Amanda thanks so much for your bracelet too its soo professional I carry it every with me! I am a missionary with steeze now! Grandmas thanks so much for that bag, the quote book, and the magnet I super excited to check that out! Love ya Grammy Grums! ;) Oh and Momma of course thanks for those open whens....I already opened one today super excited to check it out I just want to open them all right now! :) Anyways thanks everybody love you so so much! Now for the huge surprise for the week. Me and Elder Massey got a call from the Zone Leaders on Friday, they said that the Elders in a place called Varela were having serious relationship problems and they need to do an emergency change! Soooooo......they transferred me out of Lascano 3 weeks into the change!!! LOCASO eh?!?! So yeah right now I am in another little town called Jose Pedro Varela with Elder Ramirez, and Elder Massey is with the comp. of Elder Ramirez! So yeah I packed my bags and left Saturday morning to Varela like 40min. away from Lascano so not far at all! I am with Elder Ramirez, he isnt a latino kinda weird right! He is a gringo from Shelly, Idaho and he has like 15 months in the mission! So far I like him a lot, he is pretty easy to get along with, he is super funny and nice! Im excited to work with a new comp. And a new area these next couple weeks! But that doesnt mean im not going to miss Elder Massey. He is golden, I love that Elder-man and I will miss the good times we had but the Lord needs me here at this time, his will is greater than mine!

Saturday was pretty crazy but we did have a Zone Conference in a place called Melo on Thursday which was awesome! Yes I got pictures with President and Hermana Cook! :) (hopefully I will be sending those in a few weeks) Hermana Cook also took some pictures so she might have already got them to you already! It was really good to see them and I learned a lot from the conference. I learned a lot about being a consecrated missionary and what I need to do better, to become more consecrated to the Lord and His work. Also about the importance of Repentance for our investigators and how we need to focus on the steps of repentance more than just telling what it is haha go figure eh?! Also President Cook wants us to focus a lot more on retention these days! Like having more Family Home Evenings, and Retention Lessons. I love this because I feel like that is something I learned really quick the mission. Is that we need to be focusing on keeping the people we have as equal as finding a baptizing more people! As I told you guys in the Skype call its hard to keep retention here so I am really excited for this new focus!!!! I would tell you more about Varela but there isnt that much to be honest its pretty and small like Lascano. We are in a branch again with about 15-20 members that come every week.

I will tell you more about the work here in Varela next week I still trying to get to know everybody. But in Lascano, L is looking awesome!!! He is either smoking 1 or none a day so we were just helping finish that little bit! Me and Elder Massey bought him some candies to suck on, and we we also put up little photos of Jesus and baptism all over his house! Haha it was so funny I love that man so much, I hope Elder Massey can get him in those waters!! If he does I might be able to go to his baptism in Lascano we´ll see! :) I would love that so so much!

I think that is basically my week though, thanks for the all prayers and support! Me and Elder Ramirez are here to get Varela moving!! We are going to baptize the world!! Its sooo good to hear that you guys got the letter finally! Sort of cheesy but I thought it would be good to maybe write a letter to my one and only family haha hoped you guys liked it! :) Sounds like everything is doing good there as usual, I want something from that amazing garden. Mitch Call´s story was crazy 17 to 72 members!!! That is huuuge especially for a branch! What a difference one person can make thats why every lesson and contact means so much! Its hard to think that way sometime when you go out throughout the day but I know it so true and I will try to better at that. RSL is WINNING still!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And those 3 are training for the world up???? OPA! Go pacers also. Anyways it was soooo good to hear from all you guys I will let you know if I need anything momma but I good for now! LES QUIERO SIEMPRE Y PARA SIEMPRE! Have an awesome Spring/Summer week!

Love, Elder Tyler Scott Ivie

Elder Ivie & Sister Cook (Mission President's wife--sure do love the Cook's--my friend Chris Johnson's grandparents!)

Long time no see....(32nd email)

Hola Familia!!! I feel like I just talked to you guys recently oh wait oh yeah I talked to you guys YESTERDAY!! :) Oh my goodness it went sooo fast and I freaked out the whole time! It was perfect the connection was awesome and all I wanted was to see your faces and hear your wonderful voices! How is my Spanish?! A little better I hope? The only thing I wish I could have done better is find out what is going on in your lives!!! Goodness we didnt talk about that at all! Oh well but it was just simply amazing and its definitely giving me a gigante boost for this upcoming months!!

Anyways work wise it was an ok week here in Lascanito! We were just getting blown out of the water because L was making so much progress! He told us he only smokes one a day now but unfortunately we found out he bought another pack and has been sort of lying to us! There is always opposition and agency with the people of course. We dont really know how much he smokes a day because he wont tell us the truth. But we feel and think it is a little bit less because he does look better, more happy, and healthy. Its been difficult to get him to understand to just trust in God. But by doing so you cant just sit back and let God do everything right?! We will see how this week goes, if everything goes alright we will have the baptism for him on the 25th of May because he didnt go to church yesterday! It is a long story, and super complicated but I will try to keep you guys updated as simple as I can! Keep praying for him!! :) Other than that, we have been sort of losing contact with a few of our investigators, they are just not home or cant have a lesson in that moment which has been a bummer! But one important lesson that I applied really well is having an attitude of gratitude in YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES just as Pres. Dieter F. Uctdorf said. We have been having a lot of success lately and even thought this week was a little tougher I still kept high spirits. I am super happy right now and looking forward to this next week for what I can learn and apply for myself and our invesitgators! I know super cheesy but I am on cloud 9 here on the misson. I definitely miss you guys so much but I know that this is what I want to do right now and I am going to take advantage of the mission and not let it take advantage of me!

Mom, Dad, Lumps, and Alexis LES AMO MUCHO!! You guys are the best thanks for all the packages, letters, support and a billion things more! Hopefully I will see those packages in my hands this week Im super excited for that! We have a Multi-Zone Conference in a place called Melo this Wednesday! Super excited for that! It also sounds like a huge week for you guys! Way to go Isaiah he must be soo pumped it soo awesome to see him get out there and join the amazing force of Gods Army, I cant believe Scott is already done!! It did seem a little longer than normal but maybe its that way because I love that man soo much! :) TANNER got married Holy Smoly Holy that is AWESOME! CONGRATS BRO! Good for him but im going to stop because thinking about marriage makes me barf right now. Annnnnnd sounds like a sick week of sports!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! JARED ABBREDERIS A GREEN BAY PACKER!!! MY BOYS i dont care if he basically got picked last he is tooo sick, im sure you were screaming Momma! Haha RSL never ceases to amaze me too. Alright I think thats it thanks for again FAM! LOVE HIM A FULL!! Have an awesome cold week! Haha jk ;)

Les Amo, Elder Tyler Scott Ivie

¡¡¡¡Opa Dia de la Madre Coming UP!!!! (31st email)

Oh. my. goodness. time is goin by so fast but what an awesome week it was!! We have been working super hard this past week and we got to see some the fruits of our labors! This week I really learned a bittersweet lesson on faith and hope. I noticed something different this week that me and Elder Massey did this week. Our attitudes were totally different. We worked with more of the mind set of hope, hope that everything was going to turn out good this week for our investigators and for ourselves. This Thursday we had a zone conference in 33, and they focused a lot on this topic. To have faith and hope for every person that you talk to. When we talk to the people on their doorsteps or on the street we should picture them as having white clothes on and coming closer to Christ. The people do have their agency so they obviously dont always accept us at this time. But everybody should get the same equal oppurtunity to hear the gospel! And thats where we come in, we cant take away the persons agency but we sure can change ours! Sharing His word needs to have the work of faith and hope in it. With that goal in mind I know that we can achieve anything with the Lord on our side. He is on me and Elder Massey´s side, and He has blessed us with success!

I don´t know if I talked about L in the last email. But he is a recent investigator that we just found and wow what a past he´s had. He´s been involved with so many drugs and bad things but luckily he has stopped and been away from it for 5 years. He still smokes but I know that he has been looking for this path for awhile. The gospel is a way out for him, it is amazing to see such a change in a person. It isnt quick or easy but he is making some serious progress. He came to church yesterday, and we gave him a nice lookin white shirt and tie. He looked so awesome I cant wait for his planned baptism on the 18 of May! He has gone from smoking 25/30 cigarretes a day to 5/8 a day in about a 3 days time! Wow  this is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the priesthood is his power, we gave him a blessing I know the Lord is with him and helping him along the path! :) Oh yeah and we found this awesome family that are always so excited to see us!! The whole family is pretty interested but one of their little Daughters, named S is incredibly excited! She reads the pamphlets and prays every night!! She is like Alexis´s age and just wants to learn more and more everyday! She´s looking to get baptized on the 25 of May we just need to get her and the whole fam. to church. Here this Sacrament Meeting starts at 11 and they have futbol at 11!! That was a bummer when we heard that. But the little girl S doesnt play so maybe she can come alone or something else will work out!! We are praying for miracles for this amazing family, we are hoping the Mom will come to see how this Gospel changes families for brings them even closer forever! :) So basically we got an awesome week planned ahead of us! AHHH im so excited! (especially for this next Sunday too!)

MOTHERS DAY

Alright heres the news Sunday May 11 I will be Skyping the best fam in the world for 40min this time. You guys got church at 11-2 soo we were thinking about calling you guys around 1-2pm OUR TIME!! So if this all works out we will be calling you around that time just right before church! Hopefully thats alright! LOVE YOU! SO STINKIN EXCITED! But hey im still focused on this huge week for us! :)

And Momma what an email!! The package is going to get here crazy quick!!!!!!!!! Thank you Anna´s friend I dont even know her but I know she is an awesome lady!! Thank you so so so much whoever you are! The mission office is perfect, thanks so much for everything Momma thats gonna be perfect for Winter time! Oh yeah and one last thing thanks so much for the letter Momma! Ive read a little bit, oh how I love cheesy letters! :) I got it sittin here right now and I cant wait to finish it! LOVE you always and forever Momisis! Haha

Alrighty fam see YOU GUYS IN ABOUT A WEEK!! WOOT WOOT! Hehe cant wait and I know a little bit more Spanish this time! Love you guys so much enjoy the nice spring weather in good ol´ Utah! Oh good times mowing that lawn, I can smell it right now! 

Les amo, Elder Tyler Scott Ivie 

URUGUAY!

Estamos...28/Abril/2014 (30th email)

AHI ESTA! Pretty chill here I hit my 7 month mark this week, holy crazy locaso! I feel sooo old  here but I know at the same time I got a lot more time to work like crazy! It was a good week, its awesome to hear from you a lot of you today!!! I AM SO GLAD you got the package, I just hope the jerseys fit alright probably not but hey its the thought that counts right! Yeah momma you hang that sick towel up, I loved it so much I almost bought one for myself! :) Love you guys and get pumped for FIFA!!!!!!!

Our week was a quiet week. Lots of work of course but a very quiet week too. This past week was changes as you guys know now so my comp. had to make the long haul to Montevideo for a leader meeting because he is the district leader and I went to the city of 33 to work with a another Elder, named Elder Oliver. It was a good time, he is a stud and I learned to just trust in myself and the Spirit will do the rest! Now we got a couple new Elders in the district and its gonna be a great time I think! But what I am jealous about is they showed the #BecauseofHim video at changes in Montevideo so I didnt get to see it! But its alright just a little thing but I know how much you guys loved that video so maybe I will see it in the near future! 

I dont really know why I said it was a quiet week though because we have been finding a bunch of new investigators that are super interested! We did all that was possible to get them to church yesterday but it didnt turn out as good as we wanted it to! Sunday morning is always insane for us missionaries. Im sure you Dad can attest to this. We are just going from house to house waking our investigators up to go to church!! But hey we got someone new this week in church named L, he is a good guy, he´s got a hard past with drugs and stuff but with the gospel anybody can change right! :) He came to church and stayed for the first 2 classes but left right before sacrament which is obviously the most important so that was a little bummer but me and Elder Massey and going to do some serious work this week!

We have been losing a few investigators too. Which is the something that just happens in the mission unfortunately. B really lost his excitement and now he says he doesnt want to come to church anymore! Which is a killer because he was as ready as you can be! We will keep passing by him and talk with him and hopefully maintain the friendship but its just not our time to baptize him right now I guess! We obviously know that this is the most important thing he could do for himself right now! But unfortunately he doesnt think so at this time so we will see what happens I will keep you updated as the weeks go by! 

However as I always say me and Elder Massey will keep doing our thing and we will find those people prepared at this time! He is really helping me keep the attitude of work and to be super diligent I love it!! 

Thanks for organizing the package Momma im sure its gonna be great as usual! I will try to send a separate email with the info about the shoes but I think just a dr. scholls thing will be great! Its just the sole in my shoes are worn down so thats why I think im getting the blisters! I dont need new shoes, just new soles or the dr. scholls things! OH yeah and also GO Andrew holy genius he is! that is so awesome! Hi Kris and Ted love you guys soooo much! :) And last of all..... CORBIN ADIOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OHHHH my that is amazing news, the jazz are going to be tooooo sick now! Whos the new coach?  Anyways thanks for all the emails fam! You know I love you too much!!!!!!!!!!!!! :) Until next week Nos Vemos Lunes!!!

Les Quiero, Elder Tyler Scott Ivie

La Semana de Cambios (29th email)

Hello there family! First off so so so sorry forgot to tell you this week is changes so we have pday on Tuesday as you soon will figure out! Ive been usually good at telling you guys but totally spaced it this time dont kill me! Im ok just chillin here in Lascano as usual time is goin crazy fast! I cant believe I already have a whole change with Elder Massey and guess what.............WE ARE BOTH STAYIN! We got the call last night and we are both chillin here together for another change! WOOHOO I am pretty pumped!!! Elder Massey is a mega stud and I didnt want him to go. I hope he feels the same way.....ha  hope Im not drivin him too insane!

So nothing crazy here, it was definitely a crazy work week! We had 2 intercambios this week. One with the Elders in Chuy, I was with Elder Cross. It was a good time he is a gringo with the same time as Elder Massey. We did work! They got a huge area and I learned a lot about patience with him. They were having some huuuuge Easter Festival there too! I know what you are thinking another one. Thats what I was thinkin. Everybody we talked to was out of town so it was hard to get some new investigators for them but it was still a good time. The other intercambio we had was with the Zone Leaders in 33! I was with Elder Lacey, another gringo and we worked in Lascano! I love Elder Lacey he taught me how to just  work till you die basically! Just give it all like we should be 24/7 to the Lord. He talked to everybody in the street and invited a lot of people to be baptized. I learned a great deal of the importance of inviting someone to be baptized right there (as long as you do it by the Spirit of course). It really  helps you understand and know if the person is willing to follow God and progress at that time! Those are just a few tiny lessons I learned but now lets get to some funny and crazy insane stuff! After the day was done with Elder Lacey and I we had to take a bus back to their area in 33 to pick up my comp. Holy Smoly crazy in 33 there was a festival there too!!!! Goodnight!!! Uruguay is full of festivals and it just kills us! The bus was packed and we had to stand up the whole way with crazy people talking the whole way. But that wasnt even the worse. On our way back the next morning the bus was packed again!!! But this time everybody was drunk. I had this drunk guy talkin to me this whole time about who was the first sinner! The conversation has no point but I definitely realized that I wasnt in mormonville once again.

Another funny and embarrassing story I had was we went to a members kid  birthday party on Thursday just to go say Feliz Cumpleaño! They invited us in and to sit down for just a minute and chat. They gave us a pizza and told us to sit down. Right when I sat down the chair just collapsed, And everybody saw!!! SOOOO embarrassing! People were just laughing and I felt sooo bad. From that point on I realized that I am HUGE! No more dulce for me eh. I like to blame it on the loose chair though! ;) 

Alright those might not be as funny as they seem but it was funny in the moment! you had to be there. But now something serious I studied this week. Elder Massey showed me this scripture this week that really hit me. I dont think I have shared this with you guys but if so bear with me. Its in Alma 32:27 it talks about exercising just a particle or a twig of faith and how that will change your desires completely!! Ive been thinking a lot lately because although it might be small and easy to overcome my blisters on my feet were killing me. I sometimes thought it would just be easier to take a small rest than to keep walking. But then I remembered this scripture. Even though this trial is very small I had to put my faith in the Lord and hope for the best. And boy did the Lord grow my faith substantially! I feel so much better spiritually and physically now thanks to my Savior! There is a small Mormon Message named Mountains to Climb by Pres. Eyring that talks a lot about this! I love it and invite you to watch it! Speaking of everybody is talking about this Because of Him video! Hopefully I will be able to see it here soon! Unfortunately I cant go on Mormon.org but maybe the mission will allow it soon here! Im sure its AMAZING because its because of Him we are a here, its the reason Im on the mission, and its because we can live eternally with him and families once again!

Thanks Fam for all the support as usual, looks like you guys are gettin all set up for Mothers day eh?! Haha thanks I am mega excited of course, I will let you know more news as I get it! Investigators are doing alright! We are still working on B, he went to the Catholic church the other day to see what path he wants to take! We are crossing fingers we knows the Spirit of Truth and he recognized the difference! 

Mom I got a few requests! Haha I need a few things, some new soles in my  Dunham shoes there are already wearing down (hopefully that is possible). And a few things for winter because its gettin a little chilly down here I got to admit. So maybe just like a beanie, gloves the thin and big ones, and warm slippers please! Thanks you da best! :)

Anyways thats my week fam!! I cant wait for this new change with Elder Massey once again! :) We are going to baptize the world this change!! LOVE YOU guys so so so crazy much! Have an awesome week yall!

Les amo, Elder Tyler Scott Ivie

Love that smile Elder Ivie 

What is that look?  Nice smile Elder Massey!

Wanna a kiss?  haha

Beautiful sunset in Lascano

Feliz Pascua a ustedes también!! (28th email)

OOOPA! FELIZ PASCUA for some reason I thought it already passed? I have no sense of time here its just flyin! Its sounds like everything is pretty chill in Highland just like Lascano eh?! I havent gotten the package yet unfortunately but its alright the misión has definitely taught me an amazing Christlike attribute of PATIENCE! :) Sounds like a pretty quiet Spring Break though...I bet the Aquarium was pretty neat. How neat is that? And a new Muppets Movie what the what? Another one? Interesting....

As I said before this week has been pretty quiet here in Lascano almost always. Same with the work, of course we worked our brains out as usual because there is actually a lot of work to do its just hard getting the fruits of it. It has taught us a lot of PATIENCE and HOPE for the future. Its getting pretty cold down here I got to admit but, nothing near Utah yet. My companion is dying, he's from Cali. haha its so funny! ;) The cold really gets to the Uruguayos though, that was the main reason why we only had 9 people in church yesterday. Nobody likes to leave their houses when its raining and freezing but the members and the missionaries go figure right? The friendship with B has been kind of fading, we pass by his house everyday but he is either sick or gone. We aint givin up on him but he has definitely been a challenge. We just need to get him excited again! :) A L, and C are sort of fading away too, we havent been able to get a lot of visits with them because they are always busy. But of course we are DILIGENT and PERSISTENT!! We dont take no for an answer. Other than those slight challenges we are always good and happy in the Lords service. We found 2 families that are sort of interested so we will see how that goes this week!

We had an awesome Zone Conference with Pres. Cook and his wife as you guys know! It was super awesome to meet them, they are super funny and super spiritual at the same time! They told me that Chris (Elder Johnson) was on the plane heading to Taiwán and the language is kicking his butt! But he is a stud and I am so excited for him. The Zone Conference was all about change and how to always look to the future. I learned a lot on what I could do better as a missionary and the great responsibility we have for our own specific áreas! Every week is just a start over, What can I do better this week that I didnt do as well last week? I love that question because there is ALWAYS something! Scripture Study, PMG, and prayer help you answer those questions! :) I got a strong testimony of that. This work is inspired always with direct revelation from God. I am on the Lords side, I am His son, Messenger, and friend. I love the Lord and I want to do better this week for Him and his children.

Thanks for the support y´áll! I hope you have an amazing week in the warm sunshine luckies! Its sooo weird Ive been scorching hot for a whole year and now I startin to feel the chilliness! :) LES AMO MUCHO!

Love, Elder Tyler Ivie

ps. my feet got wrecked this week but im doin awesome and better dont worry

pss. thanks everybody for writing me! I got amazing family and friends!

GC is off the HIZAM!!!! (27th email)

Hooooola lovely family what an awesome, better, crazy week!! :) This week was a serious change from this past couple weeks! We had an awesome Zone Conference on Tuesday where we talked about our goal of 33 baptisms as a Zone in the month of March (we only got 16) and other things. So basically we kind of got dropped cane on. Ha not so much but they talked a lot about change and how important it is to make a change in ourselves. This conference really did get me pumped up and ready to make a change. They had us write a self evaluation about ourselves and what we could do better. This really helped me realize what I can do better as a representative of Jesus Christ. I kind of droppped cane on myself actually and just told myself I need to make a change inside myself. I am so grateful for inpsired conferences like that because I know that is what I needed to be the best missionary I can be for the Lord and the people in Lascano. :) 

Friday was amazing day, we had a crazy opportunity to talk to B's mom about his baptism!! We really had the spirit there because Elder Massey told me he didnt even know what he was saying. But she agreed to support B to be baptized. WAHOOOO!!! We were on cloud nine, we were doing everything we could to get ready for the baptism, we had to fill that font!!!!!! We got it all ready and then finally it was the day, Saturday. We had planned on taking him to the first session of GC and then baptizing him right after. We stopped by at his house to pick him up but we found out that his mom was leaving to work at a festival that was going on, and B had to take care of his siblings. So sadly we walked back trying to think of some way to solve this problem, we watched conference, texted someone to help us watch the kids, she accepted so we hauled down to his house to figure it all out. However to our surprise we found out that B's mom was back at the house but she sent B to his grandmas house. We were like oh my goodness, this is a scavenger hunt!! But hey we werent giving up, we found his Grandmas house and he was there! But unfortunately in the end he had to help his Grandma and his siblings again for some reason. We still dont know what really happened, we tried our best we did everything possible we could do but it just didnt happen. We aint giving up on him of course we got some serious issues to figure out here. Can I ask for a special prayer from you guys on this one, we are going to need it! :) However we are doing good, there is always a lesson to be learned from every trial! We definitely understand how to be diligent and patient with the will of the Lord. 

It was also hard getting people to church for conference!! Who knows why? Who wouldnt want to hear the only prophet on the earth speak?? There was a festival this week for the town so literally everybody went!!!! As you see the opposition of Satan is really working hard here. But we aint giving up, as long as me and Elder Massey stay diligent and obedient we will definitely see miracles!! :) Those 2 things were pretty hard and frustrating this week but we are moving forward thanks for all the faith and prayers for us, fam!

Other than those things CONFERENCE WAS THE BOMB!!! It was a little hard to listen to. We had to listen to it in Spanish with English subtitles. Definitely a different experience but it went alright. We downloaded all of it in english to watch in our house this week ;) haha gotta get it in the native language! Its gold! I really liked the first session on Saturday that was my favorite. There were sooo many good talks as usual but I really liked Elder Hollands talk about comfortable Gods, and Elder Andersen talk on the temptations of Satan. I have never been so excited to go read and listen to the conference again! I am excited to better myself from this conference and hopefully help the people of Lascano understand the importance of this true restored Gospel!

Mom that would be awesome if you could send me the ensign each month. The mission sometimes gets them in bulk for the missionaries to pick up but that is sometimes a little difficult to get and pick up. I think if you send it every month it would be a lot faster!! So if you could do that, that would be AMAZING! Thanks mom love ya always! :) Oh yeah and it turns out I am 2nd counselor! Haha didnt even know it is kind of an inherited calling I guess. Its chill.

Anyways thats all folks! :) Finally get to meet Pres. Cook this week I am excited for that! LOVE MY FAM ALWAYS AND FOREVER!!!! Keep it real, I got work to DO!!! :)

Les Amo su hijo, Elder Tyler Scott Ivie

ps. Happy late Easter I guess.....make me an egg please jk