Monday, May 28, 2012

Argentina Here I Come

May 28, 2012
Familia,
Well I have my Visa! I am leaving a week from today!! Holy Cow that is
so crazy!!! This morning we were fishing with a member of the
Bishopric named Brother Scuggs! He is super funny and nice! I went and
got the Cell phone from the car and saw that president Mckee called
and I knew right away that my visa came! It hasn't really hit me, but
it is definitely weird feeling! I am excited to get down to Argentina
but at the same time I am definitely going to miss it here! I have
made a lot of memories and friends and I hope I have helped some
people come unto to Christ more fully in their lives!! I feel like the
work is just starting to get moving good here, and now I am leaving,
but I am sure that it will continue to move forth and that they will
have success!
  Last week we found a lot of new investigators so this week we
contacted a lot of them and taught them, so this week we had a lot of
lessons taught!! The 19 yr old boy that I was telling ya about was
doing awesome! He went on exchanges with us on Wednesday and loved it
and wanted to keep doing them and learning, then all of the sudden we
haven't heard anything from him:( we are worried about him!
 Last night we were visiting some less active members and then after
that we were going to visit some others, but a policeman started
talking to us and we talked for like 40 minutes or something!! He was
really cool and we shared our beliefs with him and testified to him of
our Savior Jesus Christ! It was really awesome! The Spirit was really
strong! We gave him a Book of Mormon as well and he invited us over
whenever we are hungry or something t stop by and he will feed us!
Then after that we visited a family from Honduras and I was helping
him fix his knee, I think he tore his ACL, so I’m helping him get that
better and stuff, and today he took us to a Chinese restaurant place
and we had a lot of good food!!  We also talked a lot about the church
and about religion in general it went really good! We are going to
meet with him again tomorrow and his wife too!
  Oh haha, Last Thursday I was on an exchange here with my district
leader named Elder Monson and we were eating at Sonic and some TV
crews showed up and we thought Taylor Swift was going to be there or
something, but she never came, but Elder Monson and I were on the News
here in Tennessee. Lol it was pretty cool!!!
  Things are going really well here and we are working really hard! We
are hoping to have an awesome last week here in the States for me!! We
are going to talk to everyone!! Teach and testify and help everyone
come unto Christ!
How are things going at home? The house looks awesome, and it sounds
like track was a lot of fun, even though they got cheated! Sorry!
There are by far more important and better things you will be doing in
the near future Kade! I am glad to hear that Grandpa and Uncle Lane
are doing so well!! Good Luck Shayne you will do awesome!!!   Have fun
and I will talk to you all on MONDAY!!

Love Elder Eppich

P.S have fun with graduation and everything!!

Monday, May 21, 2012

Leave Nothing!

May 21, 2012
Family and Friends,

A lot has happened in a week! Elder Shoun went home.  That was pretty
weird because he was my first companion in the field! He taught me
a lot!!!  Leslie( Inglima) Penny brought us dinner! It was so good! And it was
really nice to see a familiar face and we talked for a little bit, and
hopefully we can meet up with her again!!! We went to a Nashville
Sounds game with a family in the ward. It was so much fun!! It
reminded me of going to tri-city dust devil games with the family! The
family's name is Critchlows, they are super cool! Their son is a
freshmen and he is a stud QB. He wants to go to BYU and I bet he will, he
is super good.
 Elder Longfellow is my new companion and he is from Ogden Utah and
likes University of Utah, uh-oh were going to have some issues! HAHA
No, he is pretty cool, and wants to be a doctor as well!! He likes to
work really hard like I do and we are starting to see the fruits of
the labors from Elder Shoun and I! We are finding a lot of people
right now and are teaching a lot of lessons! We are seeing a lot of
people getting super excited about the Gospel and are seeing a lot of
miracles happen before our eyes so that is super cool to see!!!
 The spirit has been really strong in all of our lessons and we have
been able to promise some pretty cool things to a lot of the
investigators! It is so cool to see people realize that we are
representatives of our Savior!! We are having a lot of people making
progress! That is so cool to see!
  So we teach English to Spanish people in the community! It is super
cool and pretty crazy that we can teach English, lol. Well we had a 19
yr old boy show up and he wants to learn English and he got a long
really well with us and really liked being in the church! So we
invited him to church and he came and stayed for the whole thing! He
kept saying how much he loved it and the people were super nice and, "
He said he feels really good" and I explained that that was the spirit
and he said yes , yes I feel it a lot!! He wants us to teach him more so
we have an appointment with him tonight!! We are planning to commit
him to baptism tonight!! It is incredible how the lord blesses you
when you do what the lord wants you to do!!
  I have witnessed a miracle myself this week! My Spanish has made a
huge jump this week!! I can understand pretty much everything and
communicate what I need to! The lord is definitely blessing me and it
is so incredible! I know he blesses everyone the same way as long as
we do what we are supposed to be doing!!
  Sounds like everything is super busy at home! I hope grandpa is
doing well and that everyone has a good week! I am keeping everyone in
my prayers! Thanks for all of the support! Let me know how track goes!
Kade and Karigan work your hardest at track, LEAVE NOTHING! That’s my
motto on the mission field! Except for books of Mormon. LOL Love ya’ll

Elder Eppich

Tennessee Nashville Mission
105 Westpark Drive Suite 190
Brentwood, TN  37027-5010

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

The Gospel is True!

May 14, 2012
Family,

Well I don’t have much time since we called yesterday! I don't have
much to say! I love you all so much! It was so great to hear from all
of you and thank you for all of the support that you give me!!
 Tonight we are going to the Nashville Sounds game and it should be really fun!!
 The Gospel is true! I love this gospel with all of my heart! If I
didn’t know it was true I wouldn’t be out here!! The book of Mormon is
incredible! I learn so much from it every day and I am so grateful for
the time I have to read in it! If anyone wants to gain a testimony of
this church or strengthen their testimony read the book of Mormon and
pray about it!! My mind is brought to what Elder Holland said 'No evil
man could write this book and no righteous man would, unless commanded
of God" It is so true!! Love all of you! If you need anything let me
know!
  Mom I love you and Happy Mother's Day! You have done so much for me
and I see more and more of your influence in my life the longer I am
out here! I love you and thank you again for everything!!

Love, Elder Eppich
Tennessee Nashville Mission
105 Westpark Drive Suite 190
Brentwood, TN  37027-5010
Cardboard cutout I made for Kaitlan's reception. I couldn't resist and had to bring it out for Mother's Day!

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Tamale Making in Nashville

A member from Kraymer's mission sent us this picture of him making Tamales in preparation for Cinco de Mayo. It was a fun surprise! He said they turned out really well!

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Cinco De Mayo and loving my Mission!

May 7, 2012
Family,

How is it all going for ya this week? This week flew by!!! Haha before
I forget to tell ya, so last week when I was in Columbia on an
exchange, they had a tornado about a half mile from the apartment!!!
It was just a little one, and didn't do much damage!! But there have
been some thunderstorms like the cabin ones every day this week!!
 Haha I am glad y'all liked the tamale pictures! It was really fun and
the tamales turned out really well! Everyone at the Cinco de Mayo
party loved them! They were pretty impressed with our skills. LOL
 This week was a really good week! You remember the Umbrella lady?
Well we were able to go teach her again, she has a super crazy
schedule so it is hard to get in there, but she said she read the book
of Mormon and knows it is true! We are just trying to get her to go to
church now!! She is really friendly and knows this is what she needs
in her life right now!! I hope that her husband will be able to come
to some lessons to because everything goes so much better when it is a
family lesson! That is what I love about this gospel and what I love
testifying about. That this Gospel is centered on Christ and on the
Family! I love the fact that we know what is going to happen to us
after this life and that we are going to live together forever!!! Not
many people know that and that is why I am so grateful to be able to
tell people about this plan!
 Our other investigator we are really focusing on is Brian. He is 9,
his brother Richard added Kade on FB. His mom is a member and so is
his brother Richard. But his dad isn't and that is what is keeping him
from being baptized. He really wants to be but his dad won’t let him
yet. I guess the missionaries in the past haven’t gotten along with him
really well, but now with us he is really warming up and jokes around
and actually talks with us, and I guess that has been unheard of! So
we are making progress with him and we are thinking he will come
around and start taking the discussions with us!
 There is a recent convert family that we have been talking with and
getting them ready for the temple, they have an awesome story! So the
father was a District attorney in Mexico and because of death threats
and stuff they had to flee the country! Then since they have been here
they have joined the church and are super strong! They are the
happiest family I have met on my mission! They went from being one of
the richest families in their area in Mexico; to the husband looking
for work right now, yet through all of this they are so happy! It is
because this Gospel blesses families!!
 My companion leaves in a week so I am not sure what is going to be
happening but I will let you know when we call next week! I am looking
forward to it!! I measured myself last week and I am about 6'3" and
1/4 almost 1/2! So I have been growing! LOL
 Thank you for all of the support! I am so grateful to be out here and
serving the people of this area! Thank you for everything!  Love,
Elder Eppich

P.S. Watch out for Karigan everyone!!! You will have to let me know
how track is going for everyone next time! Kade keep working hard
through the last few weeks of school!!!
The house looks awesome!!
Love, Elder Eppich
Tennessee Nashville Mission
105 Westpark Drive Suite 190
Brentwood, TN 37027-5010