General Conference!

Well on Monday I hate to tell you that once again we played Risk, we also went to the restaurant Oxon again but this time I ate American pancakes so I am still technically spicing things up. Tuesday I gave a training on the law of Consecration (always a fun topic to talk about) after that it was a FULL day of work, however, God hears my prayers and it was mostly overcast all day with a little bit of rain.

Wednesday we had the chance to work in our area all day. We find most of our investigators through contacting. The members don’t really do too much in that aspect for us. We are finding A LOT of new investigators which is awesome—now we just need to help them progress. To be “progressing” you have to have a baptismal date, keep your commitments, and come to church. So this Sunday, although we had 4 investigators in church, only one had a date and is keeping his commitments, so we have 1 investigator progressing but as soon as we put dates with the other people and they continue to come to church, they will be progressing as well.

Thursday we took out money again in La Merced, we then helped a less active move to his new room. We found another new investigator through Magali (Jose Wanambal’s wife) her name is Jennifer, she is the niece of Hermana Magali and she is really excited to be getting involved in the church. The rest of Thursday was working hard. We rescued 4 people! Jordin and Eumar Espinoza (brothers) will complete that entire family—they are all active now; and also Abilio and Flot Barrientos. They have a goal to go to the temple to be sealed in December. Abilio just has to receive the Sacerdocio Mayor (Melchizedek Priesthood).

Friday was a good day, we had a lot of lessons. We also got a date for baptism with Edwin and Sonia who are a couple we are teaching. We put the date for the 1 of November. We also found 3 other new investigators AND at volleyball that night, one of the members brought 3 of her friends that live in our area. YEAH!

Saturday was a conference filled day. All the sessions were very good. One of the things that stuck out to me was something that President Uchtdorf said, he said “disregard the ridicule of the ungodly”. So many people are trying to pull us down, but it really doesn’t matter in the least bit what they say! In between sessions I also ate an amazing lunch at this restaurant El Dique. I ate a platter of Chicharron de pescado y mariscos. It was amazing!

Sunday conference was good. We had 4 investigators there: Magali, Jennifer, Jersy and Kevin. There were a lot of people for the morning session but nobody came for the afternoon—haha. We watched the session in English on a little TV in another room and then headed back to San Ramon.

When the prophet started falling during his talk I have got to admit it was pretty crazy. I liked a lot of the talks, but I honestly can’t remember them right now, I liked the one about being in “ship shape and Bristol ready”. I felt like there were a lot of talks about faith and obedience—the basics of the gospel are the best! Also, it seemed like there were a lot of talks on how God really does love us and through Christ all things are possible. The “ponderizing” one was good too. I have been doing that for a while, now that I think about it, without realizing it. haha. I have Doctrine and Covenants 98:12-15 right now on my wall.  I agree that President Monson and Elder Hales didn’t look real healthy. I hope they are alright. I think that Elder Oaks is going to be the next prophet. I missed not having cinnamon rolls with you during conference! I am super proud of my siblings seriously. I sure do miss going to the temple, you have no idea. Take advantage of it! I am so glad that I have a family who is so strong and loving. I love and miss you all so much and will talk to you guys again soon!!!

How Firm is Your Foundation?!

Monday after we wrote home and everything, we traveled back to San Ramon and I cut my hair. We then played Risk in our room. We went to this little restaurant called Oxon after our game. This business is owned by a lady from Britain. She speaks perfect English, but with the accent of course. I ate an amazing fudge brownie covered in ice-cream and hot fudge. It was just like home. Tuesday we honestly just worked. I gave district training on personal conversion and then went to work all day.

Honestly Wednesday and Thursday were two full days of hard work. We knocked a lot of doors and had a lot of meetings with new people. It has been very hot. The best thing is coming in after a full day in the heat and taking a cold shower. Thursday we visited some young men with Hermano Rios (young men’s president and our landlord) and Hermano Moya (1^st counselor and really cool). It was nice to see them out and about. Their involvement makes a huge difference!

Friday was a day filled with a few lessons and lots of contacting. I am really trying hard to find new investigators in the area right now. We have a lot of meetings the next few days so we will see how that all goes and how many people are actually going to progress. Friday night we also played volleyball. Saturday we found 3 new investigators. They are a family with a grandma and her daughter and then a daughter of the grandma’s daughter. I will keep you updated on them. We also did service again for the Espinoza family where we erected a wall inside their house with wood and clay bricks. Good old Peru. But it turned out well and it’s going to help them out a lot!

Sunday we had an attendance of 153. It was AWESOME!! It’s because the leaders are doing their visits. For example, last week there were 4 young men that attended and this Sunday there were 14. I also gave a talk about hastening the Lord’s work. I talked about the sons of Mosiah a little and how there are different kinds of missionary work. We found 3 new investigators on Sunday as well. Now the only thing to do is see if they are really interested.

Today we are going to go to that restaurant again and play Risk, I think. Maybe we will play some basketball. Not much happened this week. So I know for a fact that my companion is going to leave at the end of this transfer. so that puts me here at least until the beginning of December. But I love this place so I don’t mind. My comp is doing really well and is learning a ton and is loving this life.

We are in a new internet place this week and it is working awesome. I think I am going to be able to send recordings and more photos next week! I love and miss you all so very much. Thanks for everything and I will talk to you guys again soon!

"Who Wouldn't Love This Life?!"

Hey guys! Monday I picked up my companion. His name is Elder Barahona. He is not set apart as a missionary but prefers to be called Elder. He is 24 and is from a part of Huancayo called San Carlos. He was baptized when he was 10 but went inactive for 10 years. He recently was rescued six months ago because he had found a lot of problems in his inactive life and wanted to be better. He lives in Huancayo with his little sister while the rest of his family lives in Lima. He has studied 4 years of architecture and has one to go. He has decided to serve a mission because he doesn’t want to lose the opportunity. He is a really good guy. We went to the “el Tirol” waterfall because it’s easy and the new people wanted to see a waterfall. Tuesday I gave training on miracles and then had a good day of work.

Wednesday was a productive day. I received a call and got the news that the Hermana’s pension’s daughter wanted me to baptize her on Saturday. So that was fun. I also had the chance to give a blessing to the mother in law of the Hermana’s pension. She has cancer and is heading to Lima for a more powerful treatment. It was a cool blessing. We put a baptismal date for Jersy and his little brother, Kevin. They are really excited and I hope they keep these desires to continue learning. The date we put is the 17th of October. Thursday we did a service project for Hermano Wanambal (Jose) and his family. Jose is actually a returned missionary from Chiclayo. He served here in San Ramon as well which is kind of cool and met his wife during his mission (not so cool) then after the mission he came back for her. The service we did was scrape old paint and debris off his house and then poured some concrete to make a sidewalk outside his home. We had a normal day after that except at 8 pm I had to go pick up a missionary in La Merced. His name is Elder Hernandez from Mesa. He went to Westwood High School I guess. He had gone to Lima for migraciones and I had to go pick him up in the terminal when he was making his way back to Pichanaki, his area. He crashed with us for a night and then Friday we traveled to La Merced and sent him off to his area.

Friday we had some pretty decent success—five lessons and two new investigators. We found a SWEET family that I think is going to progress really well. They live in a little pueblo named Huacara, outside of San Ramon. The dad’s name is Fernando and the mom is Mercedes. They have been married 8 years and have six children. They are very, very poor... but seriously are such happy people. Fernando was like asking us how long we would be visiting them and told us that he didn’t want us to ever leave because we are like family. We had been there only fifteen minutes! It was a miracle to find this family honestly. Saturday I baptized Grisell Almendra Marquez Solis. Who is the daughter of the pension of the sisters. She also turned eight on he same day of her baptism. Which was cool she was of course terrified of the water. She cried coming out of the water and hugged me for like 10 minutes until I had to basically drag/carry her out of the font because she was so cold and scared. Her parents are members but her dad was not able to baptize her at this moment in time... after she was all dry she bore her testimony and said she felt a strong power and feels clean.

Sunday we had an assistance of 136 people. We had various less actives there and one investigator, the wife of Jose Wanambal. All in all it has been a good week. I am happy and working hard with my new companion. He is learning a ton and loves the life as a missionary. But let’s be honest... who wouldn’t love this life?!

I love and miss you guys a ton. I will talk to you guys again soon!

Room Inspections? Rats!

Monday we played basketball with those drug lord dudes and that’s basically it. Tuesday I received the news about my new companion.  I am going to be with a mini missionary from Huancayo. He is 25, I think. I am basically training someone who is going to leave on a mission but has not been to the MTC or anything. I am kind of learning not to care about transfers, but he is getting here today (the 14th) about noon. I have been in a trio with Elder Garcia and Bell all this last week in La Merced.

Wednesday we had to get everyone shipped off to their areas for transfers. Elder Bell is the new companion of Garcia and is doing well. Thursday we did a Service for the Espinoza family where we tore off their roof of calamina. It’s like a sheet metal roof. I also had a room inspection by President Henderson, Hna Hendersen, and the assistants. They are going around the whole mission checking everyone’s rooms.  Everything went well! Afterwards, we got to ride in Presidents car while we were heading to La Merced to check the other rooms. It had air conditioning and everything! It felt amazing! Later that afternoon I was able to actually work in my area with Elder John and Gutierrez, the assistants. It was fun and then we all went to this burger place called La Casa de Allen.

Friday and Saturday honestly nothing happened. Just went back and forth to San Ramon to try and get a little work done in my area while working here in La Merced. So, Saturday at night while we were planning, everything was normal when all of a sudden something happened. We were just sitting there when out of nowhere I saw this black thing out of the corner of my eye run under our desks. We all jumped up—it was a giant RAT! Elder Garcia had boots in the room so he threw them on and smashed its brains out. However during the process the rat ran behind boxes of pamphlets and got lost a couple of times. The sucker was like mega fast. Our room was filled with Latin’s screaming (because we had the elders from Oxapampa with us during that time) and a bloody floor.

This weekend was also stake conference for us. It was pretty boring but a lot of people came. President talked in every session. Sunday morning we had to help him act out a good Ward Council meeting and a bad one for his talk. It was me, Elders Bell and Garcia and the assistants. It was pretty funny. President was like cracking jokes and said I was the relief society president and John was the primary president. He told everyone that he hopes they have better looking relief society presidents. None of the people I am teaching came, because I haven’t been there, but this week will be better.

I am going to get my companion at 12 and then we are going to El Tirol again because everyone here is basically new. Hermana Medina in my district is training a girl from Arequipa and Hermana Paez left to Huancayo and now Hermana Brigman from Kansas is here with Hermana Asto. I am so happy that everything is going well for everyone. You have no idea how proud I am of all you. Dane is going to be just fine with friends as well as Rachel with her new math. it sounds like Kenna is just having the dream senior year and I am very proud of her. I hope the chocolate factory does really well for you guys and you guys receive the revelation necessary for our family. I will talk to you guys again next week. I love and miss you all more than you know! Talk to you guys again soon!

Farewell Father!

Monday we went to El Recreo Tirol and we had a lunch of chicken and french fries with Inca Kola. We played volleyball and cards for a bit. We then just kinda chilled and talked. Tuesday we did a ton of contacting because we didn’t have a guy to come with us to our meetings, so we couldn’t visit the girl investigators we had in our agendas. The rule of not being able to visit ladies alone sucks sometimes but the rule is there for a reason.

Elders: Toomer, Durante, Garcia, Torres--Hermanas: Paez, Asto, Medina, Olsen

Wednesday we had an alright day. We had like 4 meetings and they were all really good. I tried what is called Cebiche. We have a rule here in the mission that we can’t eat it, but when it is your last week in the mission you are allowed to, or if your companion is going home you can as well. So I got to try it! The only benefit of killing someone, haha. We ate it in our pension Wednesday and then at El Recreo Tirol on Thursday, which was much better! Thursday we had like a going away party for Torres in the church with members. It was a pretty fun time. The ward here is seriously awesome with the missionaries.

Friday we had a couple lessons but it was Torres’ last day and he wanted to say goodbye to some members. Guess what! On Friday I finished that black journal I brought for the mission. Now I am writing in another one. Saturday we had a last minute zone training. We learned about pride and the crap that can happen if we are prideful. At like 3:00 Torres left to Huancayo to begin his journey home...I went to La Merced to be with Garcia because his companion (Elder Toomer) is also going home—actually to Wyoming! Sunday I traveled to San Ramon ALONE to go to my sacrament meeting and then headed back to La Merced for the rest of the day. However we went back to San Ramon for my ward council at 6:00. Today we are going to play a pickup basketball game with some drug lords we found on the street yesterday while we were proselyting.

A scripture I like right now is D&C 98: 12-15

Half Way Point!

Monday we played basketball and soccer in an arena which was actually a nice place. The hoops had glass backboards and we could lower them to dunk and stuff. It’s the coliseo in La Merced. Tuesday Elder Torres left to Huancayo for a district leader conference and I stayed with a different missionary named Elder Anzaldo from Bolivia. Had a great day—it’s always nice to work hard.

Wednesday was officially my half way mark! Thanks for all the goodies! Torres got back and we tested out some speakers we used in our activity on Friday. Thursday we prepared for the activity. We had a cool conversation with a member named Jhon. He is the owner of what is called El Recreo Tirol. It’s like a place to vacation. He worked in the temple for like ten years and was the administrator or something. He was telling us how he has seen spirits and stuff. He also said one time he was working at night and was super tired so he prayed to God to help him and he said he saw the hand of Christ and it touched him and he worked for four days without rest. He isn’t some crazy old guy either. He is a really strong member who was an “assistant” in his mission and everything, so that was cool.

Friday and Saturday we had our activity where we watched Meet the Mormons on a projector outside in the soccer court. We had like 80 people come. We had less actives, investigators and recent converts there. Right as we ended with our prayer it started raining like crazy! Harder than I have ever seen in the mission I think. We all got soaked trying to bring in the speakers and things like that. Saturday we found a cool investigator named Yersi. He has been a driver for the missionaries for a long time taking them to Huancayo and stuff.  I will keep you updated on him! Sunday we had 136 people in church and things went well, one investigator and a few less actives! That’s all for now! Ciao!

Can I Get an "Amen"?!!

We had our zone Pday and we went to this waterfall named Bayoz. It was huge and super pretty! We saw monkeys and got to feel the cool water and it felt amazing! We had our zone meeting Tuesday and had training on how to work more with less actives and recent converts.

Wednesday everything basically fell through and Thursday wasn’t much different, but I got to give a blessing of comfort in English to Hermana Peaz which was cool and hard because I haven’t done it in English for a while. I liked it though because I felt like I was the mouthpiece in the situation...very specific ideas were flowing and there came a time where I couldn’t think of anything else no matter how hard I tried. So I took that as a signal that God was done speaking. It was really cool.

Friday was pretty weak because a lot of stuff failed but I am trying to work hard with Elder Torres. Saturday we made pancakes with a family of members and also ate French toast in our pension. We had 5 lessons as well so Saturday was a lot better.

A funny story: We were in a meeting with a member and he was saying the closing prayer. He wasn’t talking very loud so it was hard to hear and then my companion said “amen” out of nowhere. So I said “amen” as well thinking that maybe I didn’t hear him and when we looked up he was still praying. Haha. It was awkward but funny. My companion was pretty embarrassed.

Well, I have one year down and now one to go! Time is flying and I’ll be back before you know it. I love you guys!

Patience

Hey guys, well the Internet sucks again this week. It's weird; we had a bad connection last week so we tried a different Internet cafe today but are still having issues. (It's hard to be understanding and patient sometimes) Last Pday we didn't go to that snake place (Pampa Michi) because it rained super hard! So we stayed in the room of the zone leaders and played Risk.

I did divisions this week with Elder Garcia and we worked in his area. It went well. He is hilarious! He is the one from Mexico that has nicer teeth than I do. He crossed the border every day to go to school in California. Haha. He leaves to go home pretty soon.

Our area is struggling and we are working hard to fix it. Our area book is pretty hammered and we are changing a number of things and working more efficiently.

We visited a family that was recently rescued and it just so happened to be the birthday of one of the girls that lives there. She was way sad because her family hadn't done anything for her and she was turning 15. So we went with our ward mission leader and bought her a pretty cake and surprised her. She was so happy!

Our pensionista's name is Melina. She is married and has one kid and she cooks really, really well! I still eat a ton of rice and meat and I am going to gain weight here I know it.

Today for Pday I think we are going to this massive, beautiful waterfall as a zone. I think this one is the Bayoz waterfall. I have to go guys. I love and miss you all!

God's Law

We had a multi zone conference yesterday on Monday so we are having our Pday today (Tuesday). The Internet is giving us issues today so I'm not able to load all of the pictures I would like to. I have some pretty sweet pics that I took this week!

Last Monday on Pday I went to this waterfall called El Tirol. All the other days of the week were pretty normal. The multi zone conference was cool. I got to see everyone and that was fun. The zones involved in the conference were La Merded, Tarma, and Satipo. One thing I learned was that everything we do should be spiritual because everything here on earth is a spiritual law for God.

This Sunday we had 135 people at church, 5 were investigators and 5 were less actives. One of our investigators has a baptismal date for the 29^th of August. Her name is Hellen.

Well, I'm heading off into the jungle for an activity I will tell you about it next week. Love you and have a great week!

I'm Killing my Father in the Jungle!

I'm getting transferred! I'm on my way to the jungle!! My new area is San Ramon and I'm going to kill my "father"! Yes, Elder Torres (my trainer) is my companion again and I will be his last comp before he goes home this next transfer. Crazy stuff right?!

When I left on Wednesday, Mari (my pensionista in Cerro de Pasco) stopped by and bought me some yogurt and cereal for my trip. She was crying and they were pretty sad that I was leaving. When I got to San Ramon, it felt like I was in the Garden of Eden! The people here are so nice! They love the missionaries and are always talking to us and laughing with us and giving us free sodas. It's really, really hot. I shower like three times a day. Once in the morning, once after lunch, and once at night. I can't get over how nice the people are here. My new pensionista is good. My room is kind of small but it is really pretty. I'm happy! I hope I am here for a while because this place is seriously awesome! Elder Torres is better than ever and is currently the district leader. I have really cool zone leaders too, Elders Garcia and Toomers. Garcia is from Mexico and has nicer teeth than I do and speaks perfect English. He is awesome! Toomer is from Wyoming and he leaves this transfer as well. He says he knows Laramie like the back of his hand! There are 8 people in the district. 2 sets of hermanas, us, and the zone leaders are technically in our district.

Friday not much happened. We didn't have too many lessons because some of the meetings that we had ran long. We had an activity in the church and we played a little bit of volleyball so that was cool. Then there was a youth group from Huancayo that came and they passed out like 200 pamphlets which was really cool. I think that will help us out.

Saturday we had six lessons and we started our fast. I did divisions with a member and that went well. It sounds like this ward is really strong. The members are way cool, very loving, and accepting. I seriously just love them so much already.

We had four "rescues" on Sunday, which was really awesome! Also, the bishop is super funny. He looks like he is white—he has this full white beard and glasses and he wore a hat! The members work hard and are great. I don't know if I mentioned it but our area is huge! It's this big city that we share with two hermanas—Hermanas Paez-Daravina and Asto. The other members of our district live in La Merced.

I'm really hot and thirsty and hungry. But that's okay, it's all worth it right?! I love you all and will talk to you later.

Werewolves

Monday, after I wrote you guys, we went and played soccer and kickball in that one field for our Pday activity. On Tuesday we had our district meeting. I feel that everyone benefited from that so that was cool.

Here is part of Hermana Devere Morris’ email home. This is her first area. This gives a better understanding of how life is here.

Hermana Natalie Sinks and I decided that Cerro de Pasco is District 12 from the Hunger Games.

Lima is the Capital.

Trujillo is the fishing district.

Cerro has a mine.

All the men work in the mine.

It is cold and ugly.

We don’t have water sometimes.

Also power—that goes out too.

The government officials ignore Cerro because we are far from everything.

No one actually wants to live here and we’re all poor…

Those are some reasons why Cerro is District 12.

I don't remember if I mentioned this before but I taught our district and zone the game "werewolf". I made some cards and everybody loves it. I first taught it in Huancayo but whenever we get together as a district or zone now, we play it for like an hour and a half.

I got this weird fungus-like rash thing on my feet. I think it's the cold/dry skin/cracking blood, I don't know. Elder Richmond gave me some cream stuff to put on it and started burning and turned red. It really hurt but it cleared up in the next day or two so maybe that fixed it.

Not much happened on Wednesday. We found out that Elder Chino's girlfriend died in Bolivia. That was really sad. He met with President to talk and so I hope everything goes well for him.

Thursday I was in Carhuamayo for divisions with Elder Segovia. Carhuamayo is just like Pampas; actually it may be a little worse. Their bedroom is kind of crazy and their bathroom is WAY outside. Other than that it's pretty nice. Elder Segovia goes home on the next transfer.

Carhuamayo

Elder Cook

I got back in my area on Friday and Saturday, we taught six lessons, got a new investigator and six new contacts. I'm not feeling very well. I have a head cold or something. My head hurts, my nose is stuffed up, and my body is weak. I'll drink a lot of water, get some rest and I'm sure I'll be feeling better soon.

Sunday our ward attendance went up a little bit but we had no investigators come to church. I don't know what I'm doing wrong sometimes. I'm doing everything I can. I feel like I was sent to this area to prepare for other missionaries to baptize; but that's what the Lord needed.

Well, I love you guys and I'm really grateful to have you as a family. Take care.

Cerro de Pasco-La Tierra de Machos no de Muchos!

On Pday we went and played kickball and soccer in a field that we rented out. Later we went over to Wendy's house and kind of shared her birthday with her and got to know her family a little bit more.

Tuesday we had interviews with President Henderson. They went really well. I always feel really good afterwards, he's just an amazing guy. We talked a little bit about my future. Since he is a doctor, he mentioned that he could see me being an orthopedic surgeon, like his brother. We had our zone conference and it was nice to see Elders John, Gutierrez, White, and Livingston. It was good to catch up with them and laugh at some of the things that we did together in Amarilis (Huánuco).

On Wednesday I did divisions with Elder Salazar, one of our zone leaders. We worked in his area—La Esperanza. Their room is really nice. Anyway, we had six lessons. It was nice to have a day off out of my area so I didn't have to hike the mountain.

Thursday we had 3 lessons, 11 contacts and one new investigator. We're finding a lot of new people to teach and hopefully getting this area moving. I'm working hard, I am healthy, and everything is going well.

Friday we did our weekly planning. We're finding a lot, a lot, a lot of new investigator this week, which is really nice. I feel like I was sent here to this area to kind of fix it and prepare it for future missionaries so they could baptize. It kind of sucks but if that's what is needed to be done, then I'm glad I am able to do it.

Saturday we had a zone meeting. We talked about how our attitude can affect our success in the mission. Then all of the elders in the zone did the "short sleeve challenge". What it is is that you walk around wearing short sleeves all day and night until you get back to your room. It was pretty cold I have to admit. It rained AND snowed! It was pretty rough but I'm glad I did it.

Sunday was a bit of a letdown. Not too many people at church. We had a some good lessons and I just got done reporting our district's numbers and writing in my journal. I had a good day. I really look forward to emailing you guys every week. I love you guys so much! Have a great week!

Count Your Many Blessings!

After I wrote you guys on Pday we went and played basketball at the church and made pancakes. Playing basketball was fun. I beat everyone that had played basketball in high school and it was kind of funny to see. On Tuesday we had five lessons. We were teaching Wendy and then Hector her uncle came in and he was drunk. I think that was the first time he had drunk since I gave him that blessing a couple of weeks ago. It was seriously so sad, my heart just sunk. It just goes to show that everyone has their agency. We also visited with the elders quorum president. It went well. We're finding people to teach but just trying to figure out how to get them to progress.

My tie drawer

On Wednesday we pretty much did nothing. We just contacted a lot. Thursday I did divisions in San Juan with Elder Chino, he's from Bolivia. We had a chance to give a blessing to a baby named Tiago. He's not doing too well. They were worried about him dying. I got to give him the blessing and right after the blessing I felt the spirit really, really strong and I started to cry. I kind of felt like an idiot because I haven't cried like that in a while. It was weird to think that he just recently left the presence of God. He is 12 days old. He was having a hard time breathing and was having problems in the hospital. I gave him a blessing and felt really good about it. It was cool.

Saturday we had five lessons, five contacts and two new investigators. Hopefully we have a lot of people in church. Gladys is doing awesome with her son Junior, daughter Angela and husband Javier. There's also a new girl named Carol who we should be baptizing soon.

We had Ward Conference and our attendance was a little higher than normal which was good. We ended the week with 23 lessons, 100 contacts, and 9 new investigators!! By the way, I forgot to mention that I have been showering with pitchers of hot water because our shower has not been working for a while. Hector has been really depressed so I had to talk him out of it. Life is great! Talk to you guys later.

Dog Beater, Snowy 4th and Andy

After emailing you guys on Pday, I got my hair cut and then went and played soccer and basketball at the church with Elders Suarez and Gonzalez. Tuesday we had 7 lessons and things are starting to pick up and go well. 

Wednesday we went and took out money, like we always do at the beginning of every month, to pay our rent, pension, laundry, passage and a couple of other little things. I bought this metal rod like thing to beat dogs with. It's kind of like a switch blade sword type of thing, I just whip my hand and this metal rod flies out. It's pretty cool. 20 Soles was totally worth it. I have been slacking on my exercising. I did some exercises on Thursday and I am a little sore. It's kind of crazy.

Friday we had this stake activity with a master chef where a bunch of people made a lot of treats. There were judges and there were a lot of people there. We got some references because of it.

On the Fourth of July we got snow! I bet you guys didn't get that! It was a pretty cold day but we had some good lessons. We have found a lot of people to work with this week.

I'm fasting for our area. Things are going well, I'm working hard, I just am trying to get our area moving! This next change should have a lot of baptisms.

At church on Sunday, we start to go at 10:00 instead of 8:00. It was a good fast Sunday. Later we had a good lesson with a recent "rescue". Nothing else happened except it was our pensionista's son's birthday and baptism so we helped set all of that up. We had some cake and some other good stuff. There is a kid here named Andy, who is getting ready to go on his mission; he came with us to a couple of our lessons. Actually he went with us but we didn't have much success in meeting with anyone. (Darn no shows!) I gave Andy a shirt, sweater, a pair of sweats, and a couple of other little things that I had. He was really excited and happy about it. He's a really good kid.

Well, it's that time again. Things are going well. I always hope that you guys have good Sunday's like I do. I love you guys so much! Have a great week.

Big Authority!

Monday, on Pday, we just played soccer and hung around. Tuesday we had interviews/training with President Henderson. We had a cool experience with Hector. He said that ever since I gave him that blessing he has had many opportunities to drink. His friends came and looked for him and tried to get him to go drinking but he has felt a lot more empowered and has said no to drinking. In the blessing I said something like "flee from the temptations that easily beset you" and that is what he's doing. It's always cool to see the priesthood work and people's faith grow.

This is what's left of my package 

Wednesday we had a fairly normal day. We had 3 lessons and 14 contacts. Thursday we traveled to Huánuco because Elder Wardell is coming to speak to us missionaries. I stayed with the zone leaders (Inkley and Gonzalez).

Friday we met with Elder Wardell for our conference. He is huge! I didn't realize he was so big; he is like 6'7"! I said the opening prayer for the conference which was kind of cool. One of the things that the general authority said to us was that we made a covenant with God through the prophet when we acknowledged our mission call and signed our letter of acceptance. He spoke of what God expects of us and how we can achieve it. I am going to change a few things and have recommitted to be better!

Saturday we went back to Cerro de Pasco and got ready for church the next day. On Sunday we had 2 lessons, got 2 new investigators and 5 contacts. I gave another blessing to Hector's mom. She was having some stroke like symptoms. I gave her the blessing at church and when we left, she said that she felt like her pain was going away. That was cool! Well, I miss you guys and will chat with you soon!

Trujillo Peru Temple Dedicated!

Monday on Pday we did absolutely nothing. My companion and I were really sick so we just stayed in bed all day and slept. Tuesday I was feeling much better but Elder Cunningham was still not feeling the best. We were informed about changes too. Elder Cunningham is getting transferred and leaving to go to Huancayo (Chilca). It's a really good area and he will be in a trio.

My new companion will be Elder Molina. He will be my third Bolivian companion. I don't know why president keeps sending them to me but it is good! Wednesday I got my new companion. Elder Molina is a really good guy and a good missionary. He has been a member since 2008. He has been out in the mission field for about 14 months. One thing that is kind of cool, I have had like eight opportunities to give blessings of health in the last two days. It's really cool to have the priesthood and be able to serve others.

Friday and Saturday were not the best of days. We did our planning, had our district meeting and things like that but we did not have any lessons. We did get to see some of the opening events for the Trujillo Peru temple dedication. Saturday was the three-year mark of when KJ died. It's kind of crazy of how fast time goes by. I thought of him a little bit today.

Sunday is Father's Day! I want to say Happy Father's Day to dad. I hope you had a great day dad! I really love and miss you! I've been thinking a lot about you today dad. Today was good; we got to watch the Trujillo Peru temple dedication at church. Elder Bednar lead it and Elder Uchtdorf was there too. It was really cool to see them set the cornerstone—La piedra angular. We found some new investigators today. I also gave a blessing to this guy who needed help overcoming alcohol. He asked me for it and he knelt down. So I gave him a blessing as he was kneeling down and it was probably one of the most powerful blessings that I have ever given. It was really cool. I really think he will have the strength to overcome this addiction. Well, I hope you all had a great week. I love you guys so much. Hasta luego!