GOODBYE ELDER BUSTOS

March 25, 2013

Hey everybody, well on Monday we had a last P-day with Bustos. We played soccer and Bustos and I went to get his souvenirs. Tuesday we had almost the only full day of work. We were visiting our families with baptismal dates. Wednesday we went to Tarapoto for a training in which we learned a lot about the Holy Ghost and the importance of him in our lives and especially with the investigators. Then came Friday, o man was the wedding so sweet! It started at seven, but in Peru everyone is a hour late, so we started at eight. So you can imagine how it was, but it was great, very stressful, but great. After we baptized the three couples and it was a real white out party. Christian and Celia were so very happy. It is so great to see people make changes in their lives for the good and to see them receive the blessings of the gospel. It is amazing to see the branches helping us focus on the families and actually accomplishing the goals we have as branches, as a zone, and as a mission. On Saturday we then had the opportunity to baptize two kids Ney and Gelen (Helen). It was also a very hectic day then visiting all of the members and converts here in Belen. Sunday we woke up and went to sacrament meeting then we got his bags and I sent him away to Tarapoto for his flight to Lima. I thought it would be harder to say goodbye, but you all know I’m good with goodbyes. So it wasn't that hard. I am with Nils now until later today when I'll be with the leaders until my companion get here, but I might get changed too. So let’s see. Hope not ha-ha, but more than likely I'll be here until May. My companion will get here on Tuesday. I am more nervous about having to get to know someone else as my companion. Six months is a very long time, but I am exited to get started. Nils is the sickest in lessons, the kid is so close to the spirit, he is a better missionary than I am. I sure hope he gets out on the mission before I’m back in Utah. My patriarchal blessing said I would help many missionaries succeed in their missionary callings. The lord prepares people. I loved my time with Elder Bustos and I know he will do a lot of good work at his house as well. I love you all. Pray I don’t get changed ya.

WEDDING PLANNER!

March 18, 2013

Well everybody we went to Tioyacu again as a zone. It was great, we all brought our own meat to grill. As you know Elder Busto and I both love to cook and more than that we like to show off. So we knew that no one would prepare anything so we did. We went to the market and bought meat, cilantro, oregano, pineapple, lemons, rocoto, onions, salt, and a coke. And I show Bustos how to make a bag marinade. So we decided to make shish kabobs. I got a plastic bag that mom sent me with and we put all of it in. The family that lives beneath us were astonished at the simplicity of American BBQ. As I poured the coke in they almost had a heart attack. Then we went to Tioyacu and the meat was marinating for a good 3 hours in that giant bag. Man was the whole zone jealous when Bustos and I made our 10 pineapple, onion, sirloin kabobs. And of course after I let the other elders use our left over juice. Man were our Kabobs tasty!

Anyways, we baptized Hugo and that was fun. We had a bit of a mix up due to the fact that no one told us about the relief society anniversary that took place during the baptism. The service was pretty quiet ha-ha. But nonetheless it was good. It seems like you and Bree might think that you are wedding stressed, but I think I might be winning right now! The second wedding is coming up this Friday and man will it be sweet. There will be three couples wed and baptized that same Friday night. I’m real pumped. Also it seems that with all of the weddings we are doing everyone and their dog is coming out to get married. Yesterday a recent convert from Tarapoto showed up with his wife, who he has two kids with. As he explained to us how they were separated when he was baptized, but now that she has seen the changes in him she as well wants to get baptized. So you know what that means!!! Another wedding!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Also we found two new families this week that are neighbors that we can also marry in April. So I think its time to change my career path and jump on the wedding boat with the Breeze. But ya nonetheless the ward is slowly getting full of young couples which is exactly what every ward needs!! Well my companion will be dead in less than ten days, but hey he is going out with a bang this week. We should have 4 baptisms and he will be on a plane an hour after the baptism of the twins Saturday afternoon. And I will be with Nils until my new comp comes. It will be weird having a new companion after six months with Bustos. But the lord will send me someone able to take over this area. I love you all. Happy birthday mother I hope your day was very special. I love you all.

POR SUS FRUTOS CONOCEREIS

March 11, 2013

Hey everybody. So this week we started off with a good old game of volleyball in the rain. Then we ate ice-cream because we are sick! Also Hermana Blanca is the sickest at buying fruit, she bought us all of the fruit in that picture for 10 soles .(4 American dollars). So that’s pretty chill. This week we have had a few trails, the family we are going to marry and baptize have had a few couple issues and it seems like this week we have been playing Dr.Phil. and Judge Judy more than being missionaries. But all is well. The gospel solves all problems. So Christian and Celia will still be getting married here in a few weeks and we will accomplish 8/4/2. 8/4/2 is the monthly mission goal for a companionship it is 8 families in teaching, 4 baptisms in the month and 2 families baptized in that month. With Delicia confirmed on the 3rd of March we have 1 baptism with 1 family because her husband is a member. We will baptize Hugo Becerra this Saturday which will be the second baptism. Then with Christina and Celia baptized that will be 2 more baptisms and also a family due to the fact that they will be wed right before the baptism. Also we have 2 twins that were going to get baptized this week but were not able to come to church so they will most likely be baptized at the end of the month if not the beginning of April. So the branch of Belen will get its first 8/4/2 in history! And they can continue to progress and strengthen as a branch. The goal of the mission is to baptize families. The Peru Lima north mission baptizes the most families in all of South America and maybe the world. That’s all we focus on due to the fact that the family is so very important in the plan of our Heavenly Father. So yea we had a ward mission night where we taught how to share the gospel with the missionary lessons and then we practiced. I was surprised how well Nils contacted me, I wanted to get baptized all over again ha-ha. Then as Elder Bustos and I gave our talks in the sacrament meeting I really realized that this branch has gotten so strong over these past few months and I hope that they will continue with the excitement for the work.

I love you all

HUMP DAY

March 4, 2013

Hey everybody. Well I am now over the hill, the one year mark has now been accomplished. Won’t be too long now ha-ha. Whatever I still have like 8 changes left. Well my companion is real trunky, but a good trunky because we have 7, yes 7 baptismal dates for March and with 2 families one of which is already in the water. So we are going to be the first missionaries to complete 8/4/2 in the area of Belen in Moyobamba. My companion has been taking his post down everyday ha-ha he has got a whooping 22 days left. We´re making the best of it. To be completely honest nothing really happened this week we just worked our buns off like crazy. Sacando fechas. I burned my shirt on the year mark and the lady downstairs made me a double cheeseburger so that’s like all the excitement. I can’t really remember what happened it’s all just a blur. But we did have 7 investigators in the chapel with 3 families so "todo esta bien". I sure hope that Bree's birthday was a special day for everyone at home. Congrats on the temple yea! You only got one more covenant to make then you're set ha-ha. Then it's pure endurance until exhalation. Whelp yea I kind of don’t have much to say so ill talk to you guys later.

Belen Area

TRAINING WITH PRESIDENT BLUNCK

February 25, 2013

Well everybody this week we climbed a huge mountain on Monday. I couldn't send you a picture because there was not enough space to send 4 pictures. But it is like a super huge mountain called El Morro Del Calzada. It’s in a lot of the pictures I send home. So we went to climb it and it’s a pretty gnarly hike even for some Utah kids and to make things worse half way up it began to rain and if you can imagine a jungle mountain in the rain that’s what it was just covered in slippery mud. It was hectic, but we all made it safely to the top and then came down. A few kids tripped including me on the way down which was a lot more dangerous, but we got to the easier part of the trail and we just started to Indian run down the mountain like Nephite warriors. In the jungle and the mud it was nuts and was a fun day. I think a few of us got sick, but it was worth it.

Well the president showed up on Thursday with the assistants for a training we were going to have as a zone on Friday and because of the new success and excitement in the restored area of Belen he wanted to go out and serve with us. So President Blunck, Bustos and I went out to teach three families and let’s just say it’s a lot easier to teach when your boss is sitting next to you. Because if you mess up in that lesson… fuiste ha-ha. But everything went well and he commented on how we have really changed this branch and that he is happy with how we are really focusing on families. So we had the training and learned a lot of really important things. So that was real nice.

The wedding was nuts so many things were going wrong, one of the couples from the other area didn't show up and the guy who married the couples was like 2 hours late. So we had everyone waiting patiently in the chapel with all the decorations ready while the missionaries were outside pulling the hairs that they hadn't lost yet out of the heads. But nonetheless he showed up and they were married and all was fine. But I have learned that if you want something done do it yourself, because nothing goes as you planned. For the length of the ceremony and the plans that the families had we decided that we would baptize Delicia on Sunday afternoon. So Sunday we wake up. The assistants have been with us for 4 days they will be in the sacrament meeting with us. And President Blunck will be in the sacrament meeting as well. And we left early to pick up Angel, Delica, and their baby. We got at their house at 8:30 and man did they take their sweet time ha-ha. We were waiting for an hour to get out of the house to go to church and we ended up getting there and missing the sacrament and walking in front of President with that look on his face, o-geez. I felt silly, but I think he realized we were late because of picking up investigators, but nonetheless it was an awkward situation. Also Nils blessed the sacrament on Sunday and everyone said he did a great job. And we had over 110 at the sacrament meeting. Everything is getting better every week. We then had the baptism at 5 and other than just baptizing Delicia we had the opportunity to baptize a daughter of a member who just turned 8 years old. Delica after the baptism expressed her feelings towards her baptism as a complete change of her life. I could only think of a letter my dad wrote me about trials in the mission and at one point someone will tell you that you changed their life and every trial and difficulty will be worth it. It was very emotional. Then Margot got up to give her testimony and being that she is 8 and a little nervous she got up and didn't say anything, We asked her to say how she felt. After a pause she said. “I felt like I was drowning.” The whole room was laughing hysterically as was Margot, it was great. The work is going very well here with the help of the members.

As we were setting up for the wedding President Blunck told us of the mission split so when he leaves he will do the last changes and those that are in the zones in the jungle will be in Mission Iquitos and those in Lima ll be Lima North. That will happen in two changes after this change so we will see where I go. The new president in Lima is North American and the one in Iquitos is Latin, but it will be difficult either way. I am exited to see what happens I just hope my buddies are in the same mission with me.

Well I'm really sorry but these computers here are horrible and not a single picture sent. So I will try to send them next Monday. I'm really sorry.

The photos in this post are from President Blunck's blog.

Sy sent these the following week.

CHANGES - BUT NOT FOR SY

February 18, 2013

Well everyone we had changes this week and let's just say that there are a lot less gringos in the zone of Moyobamba of the 4 of us 2 of us got changed.. and it wasn't me. But my two best buddies are now in Lima. Elder Brown is district leader in Weisse and Elder Anderson is zone leader with his trainer in Independencia. It’s sweet because now my entire group are in leadership positions. Well not me ha-ha, but I don’t care, junior companion is easier anyways. Yes President is keeping Bustos and me together so we will have 6 months as companions and I will have the privilege of being his last companion in the mission before he goes back to Chile. I am very excited for this so we can see these families get married and we can get some more baptisms. I am excited to finally kill a missionary as they say in the mission and I am grateful it is Elder Bustos being that we have had so much time together as companions. But for this same reason I am guaranteed to be in Moyo until May, so I will follow the trend of the gringos in this area and have my nine months. Like the 4 white elders before me. I am very excited for that. I do love this area, it is such a tough zone and an even tougher area but that’s why I like it. Because its not super easy to baptize I know that my teaching is getting better. I know I was called before this life to be here in Moyobamba and I want to leave this area the best it has ever been.

This week was full of trials, It seemed that after that great week of miracles this week was full of trials, but we will stay humble and trust the Lord in order to receive those promised blessings of the Lord. We will have a wedding this week, a couple that we are baptizing, a couple from the other zone, and then a member family from our branch. It will be sweet because President Blunck will be there so that will be a nice day. Anyways not much is happening I’m just chilling in a zone of Latin’s on the other side of the world. O yea over 30 missionaries came in this change and 30 more are coming in the next change. It's gonna be full of snot-nosed brats. Ha-ha also I will be completing a year here soon so I was thinking if Bree, Bain, Jenn, and whoever else wants to, should go to DI, Savers, and the vintage stores up in Salt Lake and send me some sweet circa 1960 ties for my year that would be hilarious. All of the Latin elders hate the ugly ties, but the investigators love them. Its an easy way to get people laughing and I think you guys would have a hoot as well. Anyways just an idea. Love you all. I'll send you some wedding fotos soon.

MIRACLES

February 11, 2013

Hey family, well I would like to encourage everyone to read Moroni 7. God does not cease to work in miracles or he would cease to be God, if we have faith in Him we have the power to do all things. God uses many ways to bless us daily and they are all miracles. The influence and the ability we have to recognize and receive more miracles are through our obedience. If there are no miracles there is no faith. But what is the difference in asking for miracles and expecting miracles, if we continue in the same chapter we will find out. It speaks of faith and hope. I testify that faith is the belief and trust in the Lord that through our obedience and good works we will be blessed abundantly, because He is obligated to bless us when we are obedient. That is the asking for miracles. The hope is the same belief in the Lord and trust in Him that we will receive those blessings., The hope is an act of patience in expecting the miracles knowing they will come in the timetable of the Lord. It was a great inspiration that my father asked me to study this specific topic this week as this week was full of miracles.

Angel and Delicia are getting married. She has had a complete change of heart and wants to complete the commandments in order to receive the promised blessings of the Lord. We are preparing her to be married in 2 weeks along with her baptism. And Angel’s cousin wants to get married and baptized with his girl as they have seen the change in Angel and Delica. We met them on Friday and they told us they want to get married and baptized. So we have two families to get in the water. We planned on baptizing Brayan and Pablo on Saturday, but due to a few situations we only baptized 3! Yes, Nils showed up right before Pablo’s baptism and had made the decision to be baptized as well. O how my soul was filled with the love of the Lord. Knowing that finally through six months of teaching him all of the baptismal dates he rejected the Lord blessed us through the fasting and the praying from the past months I know the Lord has His hand here in this area. And yesterday we had an attendance of 90 which is the highest in years. The branch has completely changed and I know that the Lord is keeping his promise to me by blessing this branch through the fasting, prayer, obedience and diligence of my companion and I. I am so grateful for the great miracles and the little miracles that happen every day. This whole week has gone by without a hitch we receive references daily. We don’t have time to contact it’s awesome. I’m so grateful for the inspiration of my father to steer me in the right direction in my studies. I am on the threshold of reaching the year mark. I have 14 baptisms as of this point and have made a goal to triple that number this next year. I don’t know if God can try me much harder, because it always works out in the end. If I get changed today I will be fine knowing that this area is better than it was. Always remember God doesn't change He cannot. Miracles happen daily if we are humble enough to recognize them. Our spiritual outlook will increase greatly and our faith will grow until we are filled with the pure love of Christ which is charity and if we endure to the end with that same positivity and knowledge we will live with our families and God for all eternity in celestial glory. I love you all this is the Lord's work. Read your scriptures.

Nils is in between Elder Bustos and me and Pablo is to my left. Brayan was baptized earlier that day, but the pictures are loading real slow so I doubt i'll be able to get it to ya.