Exploding!

I love baptisms. They just always put you in a good mood. This week we saved another soul. This here in Lima are just exploding! Our mission has less than 200 missionaries, with only 10 zones. it's about 2 hours from one end to the other. Here is what we did last week.

842 lessons with member, 558 others.

More than 400 invitations to be baptized

3572 asked references. (Contacting doesn't exist in lima)

4310 contacts

527 new investigators.

186 with date to be baptized

125 progressing. 

The prophecy that the descendants of Lehi will come to the gospel in the last days is true!

I sure love Peru.

We went to the temple today as a zone, and I love it. I was getting pretty angry with a lot of leaders in my ward and I needed a break, the temple always gives me that break.

I don't know why I try and teach lessons in these emails, but I'm gonna stop. haha I will just end with two stories.

Mary Chipana, her 2 kids were baptized just over a year ago, but she wasn't. She comes to church every now and then, last week she did come, and we taught the gospel principals class, the subject was parents and their responsibilities, Elder Nunez and I knocked it out of the park, after the lesson, Mary asked us to come visit her, so we went. She explained she's ready to be baptized and wants to hear the lessons. Miracle.

I did a division with Elder Cowan, my zone leader. When I first met him he said he went to BYU, and that was it for me, haha so I never tried much to get to know him, I just threw the classic BYU student on his forehead. Well we did our division, and we got to know each other. I realized he was anything but that. Sometimes as missionaries we get in such a bad habit of saying, "Hi, How are you, good? Good. Well I gotta go. Bye" We miss out on getting to know the best people in the world. I'm glad I had that time with him, It was good to remember we're not all just robots.

Anything else?

One more funny one.

I was studying words in Spanish I've never said in my life and I was mad because I couldn't remember "Railroad track" and said, "Man I'm never going to know Spanish like I want" Elder Wilding looks up at me and says, "Listen with the Spanish you know, you can impress any American girl, but if you want to impress a native you're gonna have to do a lot better than that!" I got a good kick out of it haha. 

Where we are are not, will not be enough in the future. We must progress.

Have a great week,

I don't have my camera, but the baptism pictures were sweet. ;)

Cold water to hot water in 2 seconds. HOw?

This week was solid. it was really great. Our area is looking up. Peru is I think the number 1 or close to progressing counties in South America, and I was thinking to myself...How? practically every ward in disfunctioning. Then I realized, this is the truth, if it wasn't the truth, there would be no progress. But since it is, that's all you need. For example.

Flor was baptized Saturday, we were left to clean and prepare the font, prepare the service, and pretty much do everything, it frustrated me. The lack of support left me wondering, how did Flor even get to this point? Then I started to look back on the past 2 months. Here in Peru, for someone to be baptized they need six lessons, and 3 asistencias. My last companion left when we had taught Flor 2 of the 6. She lives in the most dangerous part of my area, can only do visits at 8, and I was without a companion... Somehow, I don't know how, I taught her all the lessons, including the basic commanments we have, she read the Book of mormon, and recieved her answer, and chose to be baptized. As I sat at the baptism service it hit me. God does NOT let his children go. He will support them, and he will send his servents to serve them.

Realizing that, I stepped into the water, freezing, like normal. then, the spirit came, and I not lying, everything got hot. She was baptized and then I asked, "Did the water just get hot?" She responded, Yes. My whole body continued to be on fire for like a hour.

 From the first contact to the baptismal font. The church is true, and the lord will not wait or stop his work. So you have an option, be apart of it, and feal the spirit fill your body, or choose to stay home, or to go do something else. I testify that there is no better joy than helping others change their eternal salvación.

I'll end with this.

"You can tell, but never teach. Until you practice, what you preach."

John. W. Boswell II ;)

I'm going to try and do pictures.. Let's see if it works.

1. The two new guys :) 

2. We All have scars on our arms? Can you guess which is mine? :)

3. No package goes unloved here in the arms of Elder smith

4. Coconuts are really cheap and tasty

5. Koolaid!

6. There I was, sitting peacfully, then Elder Wilding thought it would be funny to rip my top of my back, and well it stayed. haha so he took a picture.

7. I like baptisms.

8. I love each and every one of you. I am a very blessed Elder

9. Temple, going there again next tuesday, so I will email next week Tuesday morning. I love it all! I have too many pictures to send, so enjoy these :)

 

  

 

 

Have you ever feared an interview?

Interviews with your mission president I'm pretty sure are the only interviews you will have when you don't have to try and impress them, when they're not looking at trying to see pick you apart word for word. I just got out of interviews with President Boswell, and I loved it. Here's something he left me thinking about, "You don't HAVE to do it, you GET to do it" He reminded me that is the change I have had, and encouraged me to have the look on everything I do, and I pass that onto you. It will be a big change on such a little train of thought.

I got a companion! por fin! His name is Elder Nunez. He is from Peru, and lived most of his life here in Lima, he is a little new man just out of training. He has a lot of great ideas, and we will work well together in this time. I think he corrects my spanish more than any other person in this world. But I told him to do it, so we're doing things!

Flor, the daughter of our Recent convert is getting baptized. She was pretty scared when she had to have an interview with president, which was partly my fault.  oops, haha, but this saturday we're going to the font! :) whoohoo for covenants! She has a four year old son who's life just changed.

Anything else? I'm still digesting conference. are you? If you haven't listened to atleast a 2 talks again, should probably do that :) For all the bad things you see and hear, gotta put more better things in. 

I love you all, have a great week.

Was not planning on having internet today so I didn't even bring my camera. Sorry.

Do yourself a favor and read this letter

Every General Conference I am more and more convinced that I can be better and better, the thing I love about the 10 hours of pure revelation, is that my eyes are lifted, and I can better see people that are in my life, that I should be like.

As Elder Holland bore a 16 minute testimony of mothers in this world, I want every single person to know that I believe there is nothing that will make a bigger influence in this world, than a mom, because they have had the biggest on mine.

I'm not going to bore you or waste time telling stories that don't matter to anyone but me, but what I am going to say, is that Sharron Smith is a woman called of god. She is stronger than I will ever be. Her along with many others, have changed my life, and I am dropped in the depths of humility and gratitude for her, and for the rest.

If you didn't watch conference, or you did. Active, Inactive, hate the church, or don't know who god is, I ask you to go watch this talk, and be grateful for your mother. Because you all have one! And if yours wasn't that great, well you look at the ones who were. Here's the link ;) 

Don't act like you're too busy to watch it. Just click here.

This week was good, it was the end of the transfer and tomorrow I will recieve a companion. POR FIN. I went to the temple with some converts of the other area, so that was fun. Flor, the daughter of Emilia I'm hoping will get baptized this week, It's a holiday this week so hopefully she can get off work and we can get to the font! If not, next week for sure :) Anything else? I don't think so. Go watch that talk.

Pictures. Thanks to my awesome Sister Maryann I got some sweet pink camera rolling again, but i can't figure out how to sync it, so you'll have to wait just another week :) Watch the talk!