Elder Sluder is in Uruguay!

Family and Friends,

I knew that John was transferring to Uruguay sometime this week, so I decided to email him last night. It was a good thing I did, because I received the following email from him this morning. He is now in Uruguay and is on his way to his first assignment. His first area will be in Sarandi Del Yi, a town in the district of Durazno. I did some checking and found out it’s a small farming community along the Yi River, about 120 miles north of Montevideo. If you want to see some pictures of the area, start here: Sarandi Del Yi. According to one website, this is a town of less than 8,000 people. I believe he will fit right in! Enjoy his email…

Love Dad


Date: 03 November, 2009 10:15 AM

Dad, Mom and family

I did it! I made it through the MTC in Buenos Aires, Argentina! I’m now in a small computer place in the bus stop in Montevideo! This mission is awesome! My flight was okay, but the plane seemed pretty rickety. I just kept telling myself that the Lord takes care of his missionaries!

I had another bout of bad luck! Ha-ha-ha I tried to take some money out of my account and my card got sucked into the machine. I don’t know if I typed my pin in wrong or what, but the machine ate my card. So you will be getting some information from the mission office in another email tonight. Sorry… So you should probably go to the bank and make sure the purchases made with that card are valid. The purchases you told me about are right, so that’s all I’ve used my card.

Well besides that, I got a new companion. His name is Elder Vargas. He’s from Honduras and doesn’t speak much English, but he’s great! I have really come to love these people. We’re getting shipped to an area of Uruguay called Sarandi Del Yi, Durazno. Its right in the middle of Uruguay and it’s just a small little town, so I’m very excited! I can’t wait. I was told by my companion that we have our first baptism on the 14th of November! Plus tonight we have to teach four lessons, so I’m so excited. This just rocks.

We never were able to find time for the taped interview thing from Salt Lake, so I never got to do that. But I did meet Sister Julie Beck, so that was kinda cool. I did send you a letter, so you should be getting that sometime this week. My p-days are on Monday, so I’ll be emailing you on this day. Oh, and in our new area we get bikes! I’m loving it!

I’m so sorry to hear about Colton Mitton. Give him a hug for me and tell him I love him and I know he was a great missionary! Well family, I love you and you will hear from me later. Love ya lots… oh and don’t worry, I have plenty of money still, but I will probably need you to send me a new debit card!

Well, have fun! Elder Sluder!