Week 84 (February 12, 2018)
This week has been a slower one.
We have some people who are progressing, they´re the same people as before so don´t get too bored lol.
Liliana is ready to get baptized this week!!! I´ve been teaching Liliana for my entire 6 months here. 6 flipping months. But something amazing has happened and she wants to be baptized. I couldn´t honestly tell you how or why. I just know that its been a miracle.
Danery is doing great, her mom traveled out of town this week, and so we´re not going to be able to see her get baptized. Sad. But we visited her this week and she told us that she wants to get baptized. The young women made her commit to do personal progress. And she´s stoked. Its funny.
Jorge, well its been an interesting week for Jorge. We had a lesson with him about Chastity. I won´t tell you all the details. But we learned this week something very interesting about Jorge. He told us, "When I started talking with you guys Ahlely told me that after a while I would be begging you to baptize me. I just laughed then, but now I realize that she was right." Unfortunatley Jorge will not be getting baptized this week, Im not sure when he will be baptized. But I know that the Lord has touched his spirit. And he knows the truth of the church and the Lord´s kingdom on earth.
well, I got sick for a day because of the change of the season, I had a fever and couldn´t go out to work so I took time to listen to some talks that I downloaded from Thomas S. Monson. In one of the talks, he talked about 3 things:
Choose your friends with CAUTION: In a world that's falling faster than we can rise, we need to have a group of people (mainly family) that will hold us and keep us from falling with it. I am SO GRATEFUL to have my family, and also my friends to help me do that.
Plan with a PURPOSE: As a missionary, I have learned the importance of planning. Life is so hectic that if we don't have a plan. We´re kinda screwed. We need to know what we´re going to do, and how we´re going to do it if we want to achieve anything. This week I learned something about that. On Friday we went to Ayaviri to see the baptism of a sister there. We had planned to go back to Sicuani right after the baptism was over. But the members there were very persistent in asking us to stay. So we stayed and played volleyball with them. So we made another plan. We planned exactly what time we would go back and we stuck to it. So we played and then we left. It was already dark out and the car wasn´t filling, Usually, when the car doesn´t get enough people to go, it doesn´t leave. We were about ready to get out of the car when a bunch of people came and filled the car. We were in the back and a joven squoze right between us. We ended up talking to him the entire hour and a half ride. His name is Jose. And he travels every day from Sicuani to Ayaviri and back for his job. He was interested in the gospel and we took down his address to give to the other elders to find him when he has some free time. I know that if we hadn´t of made a plan, we probably would have stayed in Ayaviri and not have had the opportunity to talk with Jose. I know God guides his servants. Even though we may just think we are making the decisions.
Frame your life with FAITH: As I listened to President Monson talk about this I couldn´t help but think about my time in the mission. All the experiences I´ve had so far, and how far I´ve come. I feel like a big part of faith isn´t just a trust for the future but also a gratitude for the past. And recognizing that Christ really is there for us. Faith isn´t just knowing you can move a mountain but knowing that you´ve already done it.
I love you all so much!!!! I studied 1 Nephi 22 this week, and I noticed the repetition of the promise that the righteous will be preserved. God wants us to be happy. And he knows that righteousness is the only way to that goal. "Wickedness never was happiness"
See ya next week.
Week 83 (February 5, 2018)
This week has been super strange! But very good for me personally.
Monday- P-day with President. We just played games and stuff.
Tuesday- We had our Zone Conference with President and The AP´s.
Wednesday- Wednesday was rough! We had appointments for every hour of the day, but only one was ready to receive us! It was Liliana. As you know, Liliana is the only non-member of her family but has been refusing to get baptized. Well on Wednesday she accepted a baptismal date for the 17th of February. MIRACLE. I´ve been teaching her for 6 months here in Sicuani. And to be honest. I was losing faith that she would ever get baptized. PRAY FOR LILIANA.
Thursday- A rollercoaster day for sure. Danery told us that she has been having dreams with Satan in them whenever she reads the Book of Mormon. So that's been rough. But she hasn´t lost the faith and still came to church with us on Sunday!! The rest of the day was weird, we would find a great contact one minute and then everything would go down-hill the next. We were contacting and I get a call from Jorge, so I answered. And it turns out he was drunk. that was super disappointing for me. After the day was over we went to the Plaza de Armas and just sat on a bench and thought and tried to just be calm. It was that crazy.
Friday- On Friday we found a new investigator named Veronica. She owns a beer deposit store. So that's an interesting place to teach. Then we traveled to Ayaviri to do a baptismal interview.
Saturday- Another slow day. We taught Liliana about the importance of reading the Book of Mormon. Again. haha.
Sunday- We taught a family from the campo. They aren´t super educated in the campo so we have to teach them a little differently. Its literally like teaching a child. Then we had a lesson with Liliana again. But this time we talked about the commandment of following the prophet. I testified about President Monson, and then about President Nelson. Such a powerful spirit entered that room when we talked about them. I know God calls Prophets. And I know that they say what he would have them say.
Its been a solid week!
I love you all so much!
Week 82 (January 29, 2018)
Well, this week compared to last week was incredible!! I don`t have a lot of time so I`ll just fill you all in quickly.
Danery- Turns out that Danery went to church in Espinar last and we didn`t know! So we were super stoked about that. She came with us to watch a baptism and during the service, she leaned over to me and said: "Elder, I want to get baptized too". WHAT. Holy cow. So we put a date with her for the 17th of February. She came to church here for the first time! The only bad thing is that she has another family that lives with them that are from another religion and are telling her lies about the church. That`s gonna be an obstacle.
Marleni- Marleni wasn`t really an investigator who was progressing, but this week she also accepted a baptism date for the 17th of February. We had a SUPER spiritual lesson with her and we felt prompted to invite her to baptism, she accepted. So now we have to work with her a lot more!
Jorge- Well good ole Jorge. He`s great! He`s basically a member who isn`t baptized. Yesterday the Elders quorum organized a service project for 5 o`clock in the morning today. We went to. And to our amazement. Jorge was there too with shovel in hand ready to help. I was speechless. That was a cool experience.
Well, those are our all-stars. They are amazing and we love them so much. I wish I could give all the details about these people. But there just isn`t enough time! Maybe when I'm home hahaha.
I love you all so much!
Week 81 (January 22, 2018)
Well this week has been great!
Tuesday- We watched the announcement from Pres. Nelson! So cool. He gave some awesome advice about staying on the covenant path. If we´ve made covenants, we should keep them!! And always remember them!!!
Wednesday- We had a lesson with Jorge. Good lesson, we explained the plan of salvation. We asked him to which kindgom of glory he would want to go. He said, "Terrestial", and we asked why, but he just laughed and said "Im kidding elders, of course I want to go to the celestial kingdom. The other two don´t look so happy." Hahaha. I love Jorge. Then we had a lesson with Patricia and her mom. We talked to them about why we teach people the restored gospel and why it was so important to read the Book of Mormon. It was super spiritual. We hope that Patricia´s mom reads.
Thursday- Remember the investigator Edith?? The one who recieved her answer in less than 24 hours?? Yeah we found her again. Little miracle there. So we talked to her and challenged her to read the book of mormon and keep praying about it. After that all our citas fell through. We tried to contact a while, had a few but nothing really great.
Friday- Visited my favorite old Peruvian, Margarita. We talked abot the plan of salvation with her. Still trying to get her to come to church.
Nothing happened on Saturday hahaha. A lot of contacting. and trying to visit members.
Sunday- We had an awesome FHE with a family in our ward! They´ve had some troubles and almost got separted. But something amazing has happened in that family. The gospel of Christ has completely taken over and kept them together. The gospel is so real guys.
Thats been my week! Im running out of things to talk about haha! Not a lot really happens here, as much as we contact and knock doors nothing really happens... We´re going through a slow patch. But we´re getting through!!
We have some great investigators who are progressing decently but not enough haha.
I was reading in the BoM and I came accross a scripture that I love. ! Nephi 11:17--
17 And I said unto him: I know that he loveth his children; nevertheless, I do not know the meaning of all things.
That is so important!!! Maybe we don´t know a whole lot. Maybe we doubt sometimes. Nephi admitted it! He didn´t even know everything! But he did know one thing. That God loves us. And if you can know that, wow, there is nothing that can stop you. No obstacle big enough. Nothing could make you doubt. This week I have felt the love of God, not just for God´s children in Peru, but for all of you. He loves you. How do I know?? Because he´s made me feel that way. I feel his love for all. And for that I love you all. Have a great week!!!
Week 80 (January 15, 2018)
Well guys, not a ton happened this week! We´ve only had one day that was really productive. Wednesday we had 5 lessons, 4 new investigators, and 2 references. Twas a good day.
Monday- FHE with Joel, and Diana. Good times.
Tuesday- We had a lesson with Margarita our grandma who loves WWE. She is the best.
Wednesday- The good day haha.
Thursday- We had absolutely nothing. We knocked doors all day but were rejected by everyone haha.
Friday- We had a lesson with Daneri. She got permission from her mom to be baptized!!! So we are trying to get her to attend church. And receive a testimony.
Saturday- We went out and worked in the morning and it was great. We taught a joven named Gabriel. He doesn't really have a religious background so we teach him a little different. We invited him to pray about Joseph Smith on Wednesday so we had to see if he did it. He did. But his parents were fighting so didn´t know if he received an answer or not. His parents are going through a rough time and it's affecting him a lot. We taught him that the Gospel can heal his family. So we set a time to visit with all of this family. We hope they are there.
Sunday- Everything failed haha.
This week I was reading in 1 Nephi 9. I read verse 5 and 6 and I loved it. Sometimes we don´t really understand the Lord's purposes. But we just need to have faith that everything happens for a reason. We just have to trust that he knows the way and that we can all follow him.
5 Wherefore, the Lord hath commanded me to make these plates for a wise purpose in him, which purpose I know not.
6 But the Lord knoweth all things from the beginning; wherefore, he prepareth a way to accomplish all his works among the children of men; for behold, he hath all power unto the fulfilling of all his words. And thus it is. Amen.
I love you all so much!
Week 79 (January 8, 2018)
This week was literally a rollercoaster of emotion.
I don`t have my daily Planner so I can`t remember what we did each day. But its been weird.
We found out that Jorge has a big drinking problem. So we have put some goals with him.
One of our investigators, Danery, accepted a baptism for the 27th, but its not super set.
Patricia`s baptism fell through because of her parents.
We went out and worked one morning, we found 2 new investigators in 2 hours. great time.
We played four square with some kids in the rain. Gonna go teach them.
Jorge came to church by himself yesterday, and that was a miracle.!!
Those are only a few of the things haha. We´ve been working hard! We just haven`t been seeing the results we`ve wanted to.
Thats all I have for this week!! I love you all!!
Week 78 (January 1, 2018)
HI people. this is gonna be a short letter.
This week was a good one! We spent most of our time trying to find investigators that we lost contact with during the holiday season. So not a lot happened!
We have an investigator named Patricia. She is 14 years old. and this week she accepted a BAPTISMAL DATE for the 27th of January (my dad´s b-day lol). We´ve been working with her family for a looooong time, but with Patricia we´ve only known her for 2 or so months. And she is the best. She has a little sister, Lucía, and she is the funniest little girl I´ve ever met. We love them so much!!!
We also have a little old lady named Margarita that we do service for. She´s a die-hard Catholic, so she doesn´t really accept the gospel but its fine. Margarita is very very sick. The doctors say she won't live through this year. She stays in bed all day long and doesn´t do anything. All of her kids leave to work and leave her alone (her kids are all members) and they´ve asked us to go twice a week to keep her company for an hour or so. Its been a fun experience. One day we walked in and she was watching WWE. She knew all the wrestler's names and even has a favorite wrestler. JOHN CENA. I love little old ladies who love to watch people fake fight and think its real. (people here love WWE.)
That's been my week. Also, I´ve been studying the new testament this week and here's a verse I loved.
1 Corinthians 2:2
2 For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.
I think that's something we all need. If we want anything in this life. It should be to get to know Jesus Christ. That's the best thing we can do to find happiness. Especially as a missionary lol.
Love you all!!!
