December 22, 2014

 I got my skype info. Ya, 10 should work out great. I will see if we
can do a test run but it isn't to probable. The password is sunshine88
right.
Well, not a ton to report this week and writing each of the sobrinos
took a lot of time, so I will mainly talk to you about it during
skype!

Big news: I got five stitches in my leg this week but it's
alright because there is a reason for all things. I can preach for 3
days but they were some of the most uplifting days of my life. I will
explain more later. Also got your package with the church movies and

I am super excited!! Love you!!!! Talk to you on Thursday!!!!

Mckenzie, Always remember that you are a daughter of God and that _He
loves you. Through your obedience, you will be able to feel His love,
help and guidance. I love you! You are like my half sister. You are so
beautiful and fun. Always keep yourself in high esteems.

Braelyn, God loves you!! At times life has been really hard for you,
but always remember that you can look to God for love. If you desire
it and put your trust in Him, He will give you peace. Search for it
and relax enough to feel it. You are so smart and beautiful! I love
you!

Mercedes, I loved all of your letters and am sending one for you this
week. You are so adorable! Stay beautiful and confident.

Austin, You were the first to write me and are therefore my favorite.
;) I’m so excited that you were baptized and hope it was a great
experience. You might be a little young to understand this, but I hope
you make your baptismal covenants a huge part of your life and always
remember Jesus Christ and His sacrifice for you.

Isaac, You are so cute and adorable. I can’t wait to see how big you
are and all the trouble you cause when I get Back. You are so smart!
Love you!

Kenya, You are so strong and confident. I know you will always stay
firm in your testimony and obedience. These Junior high years can be
hard but I want you to always remember that you how amazing, smart and
beautiful you are.  You have a Heavenly Father that’s always looking
to help you and an uncle that loves you! From the Book of Mormon,
“only fools mock” don’t let them ever get you down.

Tahlia, You are so smart and beautiful! And you can sing and dance!
What more could you ask for? I enjoyed seeing you in Cinderella. I
think you were the cutest bird I had ever seen and my favorite too!
Victoria, You are so fun and always filled with so much energy and
attitude, I love it! Don’t tell the others, but you are one of my
favorite 22 nieces and nephews. SHHHH! I look forward to playing with
you when I get back! You are so beautiful and funny.

Collin, You are such a stud and so tough! I loved throwing you on the
bean bag and hope we can do more of that when I get back. Become
really good friends with your siblings and remember to be gentle with
the younger ones. I love you!

James, You are so kind and loving! I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a
more gentle, kind and considerate kid. Hopefully you still like to be
steam-rolled when I get back.

Joseph, You are so smiley and filled to the brim with the light and
love of Christ, I loved it when you would run to me, shouting my name
and would give me a big hug! It made me feel so good. Keep making
people happy. You are so friendly and handsome!

Charlie and Lydia, I know you can’t understand this, but you are both
so super, super, cute. I can’t wait to see how big you are after my
mission!

Afton, I remember giving you shoulder rides and always being super
excited when you would travel up from Moab. Hopefully I can still give
you shoulder rides when I get back. You are so beautiful, smart and
fun!

Grace, I can’t wait to hear your fluent Mandarin when I get back and
am so looking forward to playing with you! You are super smart,
beautiful and full of grace!
Jack, I enjoyed so much playing with you before my mission and I’m
sure I will continue to do so after. You are so friendly and I know
you will grow through the spirit and will help many to feel loved. I
don’t think I have ever enjoyed watching anyone eat a cake as much as
you at your first birthday party. Stay hungry and handsome!

Jordan, I’m pretty positive you will be ruling the world or have a
couple masters degrees by the time I get back! You are so smart! Be a
force for good. Keep getting smarter and more adorable!

Matthew, You are such a cool kid. I love playing with you. You are
always up to play a game or 2. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone that
loves Thomas the train as much as you did.  Maybe someday you will be
able to beat me at Mario Kart. I love you!

Molly, You are so adorable and so happy. Being able to laugh is a very
good attribute to have. Stay happy and super adorable!

Clara, I’m so excited to see you personality and how much you have
grown when I get back. You are so beautiful!

Henley, What a cutie! You have so much personality! I loved going on
the Disney cruise with you and your parents and can’t wait to see you
when I get Back. Remember that your parents love sassiness! ;)

Caleb, I know you won’t understood this, but I can’t wait to see how
big you are when i get back. If you are anything like your parents I’m
gonna love it!

To all:
You are so cute and adorable. I think I probably said so in all of
your letters. I miss you all so much and loved playing and laughing
with all of you. I’m looking forward to seeing how you have all grown
when i get back, spiritually and physically. Some of you will
understand this better than others, but take advantage of the time you
have with your families, especially during this Christmas season. Love
them! Serve them! Make each of them your friend. You don’t realize how
much you will miss them one day. Remember the traditions and
activities you have with them. In the future, they will probably
be some of your fondest memories. I love each you and want each of you
to know that God loves you and you can always look to Him for help.
Develop a personal relationship with Him while you are young. Read
Alma 37:35. Follow it! It’s the key to happiness, eternal happiness.
I’m so grateful to be family with each of one of you! I love you and
hope you are all just as cute, beautiful and smart when I get back,
Probably more!! Chau!

December 29, 2014

Mom, you basically repeated my thoughts exactly. Talking to you all
was super amazing! Afterwards I started crying. Partly because I
wouldn't get to see you all again until May, partly because of your
prayer and the song, but mostly because of the love I feel for
every one of you. I don't think I could be out here without knowing
that we are an eternal family and always will be. My companion and
his parents are the only strong members in his family or 12 and I
don't know how he does it. Most of his siblings have left the church
and want nothing to do with it. We talked about it a little bit and he
expressed to me how hard it really is but he is really super strong
and has a ton of faith for his family. And he loved the stocking and
cd by the way.
So I found out about the word Chinga. It actually is bad but not
really in Bolivia. It turns out that you actually add linga to the end
of the words not chinga. Luckily i only used it once or twice and
nobody really noticed. So it’s all good.

I also found out that _____, the man we were teaching that wanted to be

baptized,
stayed in Riberalta! He got sick, so he stayed in Riberalta while the
rest of his family moved to the rain forest. Sadly he lives with his
aunt in Tajibos, which is the zone of other missionaries.  So it turns
out that they’re going to finish the lessons with him and probably end
up baptizing him. I’m sad that I don’t get to finish the lessons with
him, but more than that, I’m super happy that he miraculously stayed
in Riberalta and will have a chance to be baptized.
Also if you could send me how the xc boys did at nationals, I have
been wondering about for a couple weeks.
This week was pretty hard. After talking with you all and seeing your
faces, I was super home-sick for a couple days. Luckily we worked
through it, but for a couple days, it really stunk. Seeing you guys
and talking with you was so much fun and I can’t believe that I have
to wait til May to do it again. Next time, I’m going to practice my
English before hand so that I can actually describe what I want to. It
was so weird not being able to speak English. I didn’t expect it at
all. Especially since I can write just fine, I just can’t speak! It’ll
come back. All the missionaries right now are at least a little
home-sick, but especially the newbees. It’s kind of funny.
We taught two new investigators after Christmas and it was amazing.
Both are super humble and ready to accept the gospel. One lady named
_____ was a really strong Catholic but left her congregation because
some of the things they said felt weird and she didn’t feel like the
Catholic church was united.  We taught her from the Bible about the
church and the Plan of Salvation and basically instantaneously
accepted that the church is true.  The spirit was super strong and
testified to her nephew that the church is true as well. He had a lot
of doubts and is in religious evangelist training basically but also
wants to learn more about the church and the gospel. We also taught a
man named _____, he was just prepared! He is super smart but also super
humble. He reads the bible a lot and loves our visits. He said that he
wants his whole family to take the lessons from here on. I am really
excited.
We also had a funny experience this week. We knocked at the door and
from the other said we heard someone singing.  It sounded human! We
yelled buenos tarde and the voice responded, “hola, buenos tarde.” We
waited for a couple minutes for the door to open but nothing happened.
We then asked, “hola, somos misioneros y tenemos una mensaje sobre
Jesucristo, podemos pasar?” It responded, “Si, Buenos tarde.” But once
again, nothing happened. We looked through a hole in the wall just to
see that it was another stupid, super smart parrot. I hate those
birds! I don’t understand how they can talk so well!
Well that was pretty much our after Christmas experience. Home-sick
but super excited to teach our new investigators. I love you!!!!!
Seeing you all was amazing!!!
Elder Bell
p.s. you say it, "te amo mas que la lengua puede decir!" theres
probably a better translation. you should ask dad. Honestly, I think
you'll pick up spanish really fast! I love you mom! Mas que mi lengua
puede describir en ingles o español!