Hey!

So this week was pretty dang crazy!

Tuesday and half of wednesday Elder Inotroza and I both were in bed all day. We had some kind of virus.I had a fever. I used my little alarm clock thermomter under my armpit to take my temperature and I hit 99.9 degrees. Im not sure how accurate that is though haha. I threw up. He had to poop like every 10 minutes. Ill leave out the details. haha But we are better now!

We had a pretty successful week for being out so long! Sunday we were like a parade in the street going to church! There was the Mom, Lilian. her friend Carla. and 13 kids from the three houses on that little corner! haha they have this little wagon made out of 2 bike tires and a big barrel cut in half. They use it to go around the neighborhood and find 2 liter bottles to recycle to help their parents out financially. 20 bottles = $1 They like to pretend that one is the horse and the others are in the wagon sitting on top of all the bottles. But this week we piled kids in the wagon and me and Elder Inostroza were the horses! haha it was awesome. You should of seen all the smiles from all the neighbors and people driving by! The primary president was like Im gonna kill you Elders! (hna. Mora) There is usually 1 kid in Valient primary. (her son) this week there was 7! Instead of teaching gospel principles this week, we were in the primary.

Sunday night we found a family! They are awesome! Their name is even awesome! Falco Family haha. The mom said she has been praying for God to show her the truth. The dad is a super chill dude that reminds me of like Bishop or Bro. Stevenson. They have a teenage daughter and a teenage son. We are so excited for them! We will see how it goes!

The weather is slowly getting much better! The mornings during study I usually wear my hoodie and open the window for the nice breeze. Me and Elder Longfellow go chill on the top of the roof sometimes before bed. It rained a lot this week! The trench coat and umbrella are money!!

This week the Patriarch of Artigas passed away. It´s interesting. Here in Uruguay they have the funeral really fast. He passed away about 6am and the funeral was at 3pm. It was a beautiful service. I was really impressed with the talk his wife gave. She seemed so happy for him. I love the spirit of funerals in the church. I havent been to a funeral since grandpas when I was like what 10 years old? I thought a lot about my grandpas the other day. The viewing brought the plan of salvation that we teach all the time into reality for me.

So we are continuing to teach Daniel and Sabrina. Daniel is progressing very quickly and Sabrina just isnt very religious. This has been causing problems between their relationship, Daniel wanted to know why trying to follow God more would bring such sadness and problems in his life. He admitted that he was very discouraged. We read in Alma 32 when the poor are rejected from the synagouges. How Alma teaches them that God gave them these trials to be humbled, that humility leads to repentance, and that repentance leads to mercy, mercy brings eternal life. He understood. But just looked sad. It was tearing him up. It was raining. Thier tin sheet metal roof was loud but kinda beautiful. I remembered my first couple days in Uruguay and how they were hard and I was discouraged. I remembered the scripture Joshua 1:9 which I had read from a letter from Grandma earlier that day and which literally changed my whole world those first couple days. We read it together and he just started to cry. He explained that this scripture he remembered hearing a lot earlier in his life from his parents and at church. He held his wife´s hand and his little 2 year old (cutest kid on the earth!!!) hugged his leg looking up at him. He left the room and got his guitar and played and sang a song for us. It was a christian song and he is really good! His little boy went and got his little tiny plastic guitar and sat next to his daddy and started singing. He doesnt know how to talk yet but he was just trying so hard. It was such an incredible memory. The rain. The guitar. The little son. But most of all the spirit that was there. This is what its all about. Families. Love. True unbreakable happiness. I love those little things.

Yesterday Rider and Maira didnt go to church. They have gone once in the last 6 weeks and are recent converts. We stopped by their house after dropping off the neighborhood of kids. We were just kinda sad. We didnt have much to say. They just kinda gave some excuses. I looked at my hands. They were torn with blisters and scrapes and cuts. We tore out all of their huge bamboo in thier backyard (bamboo is ridiculously crazy plant by the way!) I felt a wierd feeling. Like Come on guys. We come here like 3 times a week. We teach you all the time. We give our sweat and blood to serve you. We pray for you. Why dont you go to church! I had a really special moment as I looked at those hands. I thought of Jesus Chirst. I thought of the marks on his hands from His sweat and blood. His infinate love for us. And I thought about how sometimes we don`t always do what we should.

Well thats Elder Kellis in Artigas, Uruguay for you. I Cant wait for conference! I should be able to watch it all in English with the other missionaries except for the priesthood session. It is broadcasted here at 9pm and thats when we have to be at home so bummer!

I love you all so much. Thanks for your prayers. Your support. Your letters. All of you!

Elder Kellis

THE BIG YELLOW ONE IS THE SUN!!!!!!!!