January 25th- February 10th

January 25^, 2019

Today I was better today than I was yesterday.

Today was a busy day! Not a lot of lessons but a lot of work. We went to Bagua Grande to end an interchange I had with E. Moron, there we also did a planifecar seminar and a baptism interview for the zone leaders. We headed on back to Chica and continued our work, we went contacting and taught a lesson to a family that the parents belong to different religions. That was a difficult lesson... we then went and checked in on Jacory because her baptism is tomorrow, and I’m baptizing 4 people! My joy in this gospel is full! We then came to the room and ate dinner, but at all the visits I got fed so I did not eat much tonight. I love you and goodnight!

Jan 26, 2019

A little better today than I was yesterday.

Well today was a long day and my feet are killing me. We first visited the three BIs to check in if they were ready for baptism and they were all excited! Dora is my favorite! Well we came back to the room and studied a ton, and went back to get Dora, Dora lives at the top of a mountain, it’s about a 20 min walk and its striate up. Here in the 90-degree weather it’s a killer! But we walk it every day. Well we then went to the church and waited for the ceremony to start, it started an hour late but all three got baptized! Jacory cried because she did not want to get in the water, then I said her name wrong and it was quite the fiasco. The others were super easy and after the baptism service all Jacory said to me was {you are bad} did not make me feel too good, but what do you do. Ha-ha oh and my shoes insole wore through and me and my companion took card board and cut out new shoe insole! My rich mind was thinking of buying new ones. The things you can learn from Latinos.

Jan 27, 2019

Today I will be better than I was yesterday.

Today was a rough day, I woke up really tired and had no energy all day, but I did make it through the day so that is a miracle. Today we prayed to find a golden investigator, well we found one! She’s our neighbor and we have done a lot of service for her in the past and today we decided to extend the invite! she accepted, and we have a lesson planned with her for tomorrow! I’m REALLY tired so I’m headed to bed luv ya.

Jan 28, 2019

What a day, well last night at about 10 the assistant to the president called and said I was having an emergency exchange due to the jokes a member was making about me. They said I’m moving out to Jayanca at 7 in the morning, so I packed all night and shipped out first thing in the morning said goodbye to the zone leaders, sat on a bus for 7 hours and got to Jayanca to start teaching lessons around 7 o’ clock! I need to unpack and sorry for not writing this week, but I was on a bus. I love you good night

Jan 29, 2019

Be better today than yesterday.

Well I lost my cable to my alpha smart so it might be a long time before you get these messages. Well it’s a new life in my new area, my companion is a Peruvian and speaks absolutely no English but it’s all right because I can speak pretty fluently with him. He asked me how many baptisms I had because it’s a pretty common factor in the mission and I told him about my 5 I felt really bad afterwards when he said he has been out on his mission 4 times longer than me and has only 3 more baptisms... well things are all adjusting here and I miss Bagua so much! It was a newly opened area so me and elder Espinoza stated it from the ground up. It’s like having a kid, you put so much work in to it to watch it grow and develop and it’s hard to just pack up and leave it the next day. But here I will do the same! Well minus the leaving part. Ha-ha I love you guys, goodnight!

Jan 30, 2019

Be better today than yesterday.

Well I’m starting to get the new area down, kind of missing the Wednesday night cock fights in Bagua, but I’ll live! I was watching some dogs fight in the street which is common, until one got run over by a car... that will forever be set in my memory. Well on other news we have an investigator who is deaf, and I was able to talk to him, in perfect Spanish sign language! How cool is that! His mom is not married, and he wants her to get baptized. He is about 28 roughly. We also taught this guy and he was nodding off hard! He almost fell asleep so many times, but every time we thought he was going down for the count I would hit my ring on the chair, and he would perk up and continue talking! It was actually so funny! Well I have homework tonight, so I need to go! I love you good night!

Jan 31, 2019

Be better today than yesterday.

Well I’m starting to learn my new area a little better, we are trying to get 3 baptisms this month. This goal is a little tougher to get in this new area because for example the missionary I replaced had 1 baptism here, and he was serving in this area for 5 months... I really just want to help people receive the word of God, but people here measure success with baptisms because it’s a definitive number. I’m liking my new companion he is from here in Peru and knows less English than E. Espinosa did, he is the only member in his family and has some issue with his dad which he told me all about it yesterday but he is a very quiet talker and I would feel bad to tell him I did not understand and make him repeat it. Also, he said he only got 4 minutes to skype his family on Christmas due to internet issues here. It’s late I love you and good night!

Feb 1, 2019

Be better today than yesterday.

All I can say is WOW! We woke up today destined to put in some work today, and we did not hit any of our goals but it was still one of the most productive days yet! We taught a family, and they are so ready for the gospel! They ask American questions like, why were the golden plates gold and not another metal? I said it was mostly symbolic, but also because gold can be made really thin into pages and the soft metal is easy to write on. But all the other investigators in Bagua would ask questions like why Moroni had white hair or why is the cover of the book of Mormon blue? So that was really nice! We walked out of that lesson feeling like Gods once again! I love you and I ordered chicken, so I got to go, good night!

Feb 2, 2019

Better today than yesterday.

I really need the cord to this typing machine... I keep typing on in and have no way to send these out to you. I pray E. Espinosa finds it in our room and brings it out to Jayanca along with my clothes. Yeah because we dropped our clothes off to get cleaned, then got the call to ship me out really late at night I had no time to get my clothes, so thank you so much mom for sending that extra shirt because I only have 2, a pair of pants, 5 socks, yeah I lost a sock, and 3 pairs of garments. I have been washing my clothes by hand and I’m quite a pro! So, pray for those things for me please! Today was pretty good, we have an investigator and her son is on a mission in the home town of my companion and I was his zone leader in the ccm. Small world right! And the miracle of the day... we took a moto taxi to an appointment about 20 minutes or so out of town, we had called her beforehand to see if she would be present and she confirmed. When we arrived, she was not, so we taught some random guy. Afterwards we waited by the road for a moto to take us back to Jayanca all of them were occupied. So, we started walking, trying to flag down every moto that passed but they were all full. We walked for an hour and a half. We decided to change sides of the road maybe we would have more success. As we did every moto that passed was empty! No occupied! But all of them were back in the other lane. The lane we had just switched from. My companion asked why we are so un lucky. I said, oh quite the opposite my friend, God has a plan and if he wanted us to have a moto, he would have sent one, he just wanted us to walk so we would not drive passed this house. As I said that I knocked the door. A lady opened up we said we had a message for her and her family so they could live together forever! She quickly rushed us in to listen to the message as she had been waiting for us to teach her! The spirit of God filled both me, my companion, and that little Latino home this night. There is not a shadow of doubt in my mind about this gospel! I love you and good night

Feb 3, 2019

Better today than yesterday.

Well today we fasted, that means after dinner yesterday we said a prayer and asked Heavenly Father to bless us with success with investigators and in turn we will not eat nor drink until 9:30 today. Well long story short it was a long painful day in this 85-degree weather. Not having food or water with a 15-hour work day, I have never had a more difficult fast! And to top it all off no one was home for our visits so that was a bummer. We broke our fast with rice and chicken and it was the best chicken I have ever had! We also had milk with chocolate, yogurt, and jugo! Oh, I ate way too much! We also had a 4-hour study time today due to no lunch. It was a really good day! te amo, Buenas noches!

Feb 4, 2019

Better today than yesterday.

What a day! We went to the zone meeting, and for a while being surrounded by the elders of Bagua thought harsh of myself having amazing role models as elders! Well here closer to Chiclayo, let’s just say I feel more growth in myself! I got to meet everyone and here in our zone we have sister missionaries. We played soccer and afterwards me and my companion went out to eat at a restaurant and a member works there and she does not let us pay so we get free food! That made my day... or so I thought. We then went teaching and we have goals for the days, talk to 5 new people, invite 2 people to baptism, 7 to attend church, and others. Everyone was home tonight but planned for another day, usually I would feel bad for not having lessons, but tonight didn’t. We visited a family we have been teaching and just said hi and asked if they needed help since all our visits went through. That felt like a spiritual prompting, my companion asked me if we should call it a night a little early, I said 1 more contact, as we only had 3. We talked to his guy who was super eager to hear more and give us his contact so we could plan a next visit! It felt amazing! As we were walking back, we stopped in the road my companion said 1 more contact... but who? We were thinking hard of what road to go down who should we talk to. A moto driver came up to us asking where we needed a ride to as he thought that’s what we were thinking about, after about a minute trying to tell him we did not need a ride I looked at him and said, we are missionaries of the church of Christ the message we bring will bless you and your family. He said he had a book and took lessons a while back, but the elders stopped coming one day, we talked and set up an appointment. The experience might not sound to great, but the spirit was so strong! It completed our day! So awesome! Te amo, Buenos Noches!

Feb 5, 2019

Better today than yesterday.

We all have struggles, and no one has a harder life than another. Because the struggles we face in this life are special, hand chosen growing opportunities that Christ knows we can grow from. I know this church is true. I just do not know how I can show, teach, influence, some way or how help others to understand it. But this is the work of Christ, I came here to do his will, not my own. So, I will move forward every day in faith that this work is not lost, not corrupted, not diminished, flawed, or vain. I love you with all my heart, there is nothing I wouldn’t do for you! sleep tight!

Feb 7, 2019

Better today than yesterday.

Well this area is a little tougher than Bagua, but right now we are teaching a family of 3 and they are smart! They have read a ton in the book of Mormon, researched online and have great questions when we visit! We had an example today, I have a magic pen that the ink disappears when it’s hot, it’s called a friction pen, and we had a picture of a girl who had a ton of sins and when she got baptized with the holy ghost or by fire and as I held a match up to the paper all the sins disappeared and the girl was left there! They don’t show a lot of emotion, but I think they liked it! It is hard work here! I love you good night!

Feb 8, 2019

Better today than yesterday.

What a day! We drove down to Chiclayo for a president interview and that went really well! It’s a 3-part interview where the assistants interview us and our area book along with our planners to make sure we are organized, they really liked my color-coded lesson summary, and liked that I log every purchase I have made in the last 3 months in my planner! Then I talked with president and he is so intense! I have never been more scared of a man in my life. But he’s really nice! He said my Spanish is outstanding and I’m communicating faster and understanding everything very well! That made me feel good! Here in my new area I don’t have another gringo like I had E. Walker in Bagua, and at district meetings I don’t speak English so I have not spoken ingles in almost 3 weeks, this is along with reading the book of Mormon in Spanish and praying earnestly for the gift of tongues! Well we came back to the area with a boost in moral and had all our visits go through! We talked to the deaf guy again which has become common, his mother in law is not married but has had all the lessons so he begs us to visit them. The other day we arrive at our apartment and he was waiting there to ask us to visit his family and get them to read together and stuff. Turns out he has been going off the deep end and has threatened to kill his family... I’m a little nervous that he knows where we live. But it was a good day today! Good night I love you! oh and Espinosa was at the office today and I was so happy to see him!

Feb 9, 2019

Better today than yesterday.

Well we had no visits today except one, so that was kind of a bummer. And at the one visit we invited them to baptism, and they said no. But they went an hour into town to buy us pizza! That was nice! Oh also E. Norman drove my cord to me for my typing thing! 8 hours! What a great missionary! It was a good day today! I love you good night!

Feb 10, 2019

Be better today than yesterday.

Today was a good day, I gave a talk in church and it went well! After that we studied and went to talk to the branch president about, honestly, I have no idea. But when we left, he called us back into his house and we talked about goals, his goal is to get 12 new members for this year. Remembering when Mitchell addressed his bishop about the low baptism goal, I tried to word mine as well as possible, so I did not offend him. I asked him, “Do you think that 12 is using our branches full potential? and he said no. and said our new goal is 32... that is 1 baptism for every active member.” Afterwards we went to a visit with some investigators who have been taking lessons for 8 months. That is an extreme amount of time! Well we were able to set a date for the parents to get married, and the family to get baptized! That was a miracle! So today was an amazing day!

No cable yet so this message won’t make it to you until next week I believe, I love you and good night!