LED TO MAN ON ROOF

August 20, 2012

O yea you know what it is.

So we shot pool on Monday, which was sick. But I forgot to take a picture ha-ha sorry. I was too busy whooping on the Latin’s with my zone leaders. But later that day we had a family night with our recent convert family and we brought out the relief society army all the way to the top of a mountain to give their testimonies. Let’s just say Hermana Cecilia’s parents are pretty excited to get married and baptized. We had an area 70 come to the mission home and all of the missionaries in Lima had a big old training so that was cool. It was Elder Torres who was the mission president in Guadalajara 2 presidents before the Jesperson’s .So that was pretty boss. He gave a great training. An elder from the ward come home on Monday and we proselyted with him all of Tuesday in the afternoon. It was pretty cool. So at like 11 o’clock p.m. on Wednesday the little old ladies beneath us knocked on the door and gave us two pieces of cake and two cokes! So that was a nice end to a tough day ha-ha. I had another work visit with my zone leader on Friday, let’s just say we made the most of it. We stayed up to the wee hours of the morning drawing up an awesome super hero picture for the back of our shirts that we are hopefully making. I’m glad God gave me my right hand.

So time for the spiritual experience. Saturday after we had got to all of our visits and no one was home. We started walking. I don’t know why but I knew we had to go to this area that was pretty far form where we were. So I was like we need to go this way. I don’t know where I was walking I knew the place, but we hadn't been there in so long because we don’t have any investigators there. It was raining pretty badly and it was freezing. So I got to the hill and we were walking and I was like it’s not the street. Not this street. Not this street... this street. The street was totally dark. And I turned to my companion who had no idea where we were or why or where we are going and I said. I don’t know why, but we are supposed to find someone here. And before I finished my sentence I man on his roof yelled down to us then told us to wait and then came down and let us in. We didn't even knock a door. We were standing right where we needed to be. Never in my life have I been more directed by the Lord. We taught the single father and his daughters. And he wants to get baptized. So there you go hopefully this will work out and we can help this man get baptized.

                

And on Sunday I fell asleep like always and accidently turn the lights off in the chapel with my head when it fell against the wall... So that was something real funny ha-ha… for everyone else.

               

 So yea everything is chill in this hemisphere 

BAPTIZED THE GREAT GREAT GRANDMOTHER

August 13, 2012

So this week started off with tacos!!!! Mexican tacos!!! Marmita Charo made Mexican tacos for us it was her first time cooking like that and it was awesome. Well Tuesday I had a work visit with my district leader Elder Frost from Missouri and we talked about deep doctrine all night long ha-ha, but he helped me a lot and helped me make a lot of great goals. I have started getting up an hour earlier to read so that’s probably weird for mom to hear. The baptisms went off without a hitch. The water wasn't super-hot but it was warmer than freezing. We baptized the ggg (greatgreatgrandmother) and we had planned to put her on a chair but she floated like a balloon so we kind of just helped her in the water and pushed her under ha-ha. It was pretty sweet. All they could say was thank you, she was crying and it was something you would have had to see for yourself. Then we baptized the family and it was great we confirmed all of them on Sunday except for the oldest daughter because she had a test to go to college in the Centro de Lima on Sunday and couldn't come but we are confirming her this week.

I keep getting asked if I’m from Chile or Argentina or Cajamarca I think my Spanish is getting too good ha-ha. On Tuesday morning we were studying and got a call from the zone leaders and they we freaking out because they forgot to tell us about our training with the president. So we ran like 2 miles in like 15 minutes to get to the other stake center late. Hermana Blunck taught us how to brush our teeth during the training which was perfect because I had forgotten to that day. It was an ordeal, but I got like 3 new ties that day so that was a plus. On Thursday my companion and I were contacting when we saw a crowd of kids watching something awesome. We quickly ran over and watched the cockfight! It was awesome, I of coarse didn't have my camera with me, but it was a cool experience nonetheless.

Not much going on right now, we are kind of just searching hard for some bomb awesome new investigators to teach. We are searching for those families just itching for the truth.

Suyo atentamente

-- 

HOT JELL-O AND ZITS GAME

August 6. 2012

Yea buddy

So we didn't baptize the sweet angel from heaven, 96 year-old lady. Because we couldn't heat the water sufficiently so we are going to baptize her on Wednesday with a family that we are baptizing, the familia Cruz. The father Yuri is a member for almost all his life, but has been less active because when his brothers went on missions he decide to serve a different mission, a military mission and has been serving in the Peruvian special forces for almost all his life. So he hasn't had much time to attend church his wife Ana Cecilia and their two daughters, Valery and Siomara are super awesome. They were super ready for the gospel, their dad has been a great example in their lives and various times he would teacher them something about the gospel before we would come over to teach and we wouldn't have anything to teach because they already knew it. They problem is, he is leaving for a mission on the ninth and Wednesday is the last day we can baptized. We knew that the invitation to be baptized on that day would be a hard decision for them because it was a very short period of time we have been teaching them, but I bore a huge heartfelt testimony and so did my companion and so did Yuri and everyone was crying and we committed them to pray about it as a family. We came over the next day in the night to teach them again. Not expecting to baptize them and very concerned about the situation. But through their faith and a fervent prayer they have decided to be baptized. So we got their interviews done and they are super ready to go so we just need to find a way to heat the water for the ancient Incan woman.

Hermana Cecilia makes me hot Jell-O every time I go over there because I commented on how my mom makes that for me every time I’m sick and she has taking the role to make it for me every single day. Its awesome because Peruvian Jell-O is awesome! We had a family night with them that’s why in the picture we have lip stick zits on our face ha-ha. The game we played is kind of hard to explain, it's like big booty but with consequences ha-ha. Anyway my companion is a nut. In the shower he screams random weird stuff in Spanish and sings songs like a dying alpaca. It's hilarious, but ya we are working on finding some new families. O yea we now have cell phones in our area so ya our zone is pretty cool. We are the first zone to get them to see if they improve the work and so far they have because all the calls to the district leaders and zone leaders are free so we can get a lot more feedback on our numbers. So that’s pretty chill. We have a new elder in the zone from Boise this kid doesn't know any Spanish. Its hilarious, I wonder if I was really that bad when I started. His name is Elder Harris. Yes, we have two elder Harris' in our zone. One is the zone leader with one change left, the other has two weeks in the mission and is the newest elder in the mission, ha-ha it's funny because they are in the same church on Sundays. Last night we got a miracle phone call from a man in Utah who is from Peru who gave us a reference in our district. So that was kind of cool. I have no idea how he got our number, but I don’t mind. Also last night we had 99 contacts on the week and we need 100 every week so me and elder Cruz preached from atop our apartment to get 2 more contacts at 10:30 at night, ha-ha so that’s kind of sad.

So yea Peru is freezing right now, but it’s nothing like Utah.

Our investigators were searching the internet and put in my name and found the mission president's blog check it out I’m in there a few times lpblunck.blogspot.com

HANDSTAND ON MOUNTAIN

 July 30, 2012

New change

Guess who is in the jungle!!! .. Not me! Our zone is 10 missionaries and we had 5 change! Yes half of the zone. So that’s sweet  Ha-ha my companion left to Iquitos on Tuesday and I got my new comp Elder Cruz from Querétaro, Mexico. He is a stud, he looks like Ecrul straight up. He has one more change in the mission than I do and he is one change older than me in his life. He started in Iquitos and has been there for his first 6 months. Its pretty fun having two young elders in the area because we actually do work. We are baptizing the 96 year-old lady this week and we are also baptizing a family. The dad is a member, he is in the army and is inactive. They are basically members,  he teaches his family the lessons before we come over and the wife and their two daughters and taking it all in and are super ready. I think we will be getting that baptism this next week.

On P day last week Elder Harris and I climbed a mountain because we are crazy North Americans. I hope you like my gnarly pictures. There is much going on this side, Elder Cruz and I are just focusing really hard on our families so we can get 8-4-2 in the mission, which is an award where one month you have 8 investigators progressing (4 families and 4 others), 4 baptisms and 2 families baptized in one month. We think it would be sweet to get that as two super young missionaries.

I’m leading this area, we are both senor companions because he has only one change more than me, but I have two changes in this area so we are just kind of burning up this zone. I’m destroying all of the bad habits I made with my trainer and continue to do the good habits and learn more good habits from Elder Cruz. 

change is good. 

--

Elder Sy E. Woolstenhulme

Misión  Perú  Lima  Norte

Febrero 2012 - Marzo 2014

Of course Sy decided that doing a handstand on a rock on a mountain was a safe thing to do!!!!

ATE ALPACA AND CHICKEN FEET SOUP

July 23, 2012

So yep last week as a greenie.

This week started out with a knock on the door at Mamita Charos house. So Elder Cifuentes and I  answered the door and dos Jehovah Witnesses were standing there. Never in my life had I seen such fear penetrate the faces on such sweet little ladies. They quickly asked if the family was busy and then said they would come back another day. Why were they so scared? They ran away so fast, but whatever. Also we were teaching an investigator outside of his house and a group of witnesses started knocking doors down that street and after seeing us promptly changed directions. What’s the deal? So I had a work visit with my zone leader for like 3 days, so that was sweet. My zone leader is a stud of all studs and he has more stories than he has hairs on his head. We have an investigator who has a baptismal date this 4th of August who is 96 ,yes 96 years-old. She has great-great-grandchildren. I’m terrified that she will die when I baptize her. That will be a fun experience if I don’t get transferred tomorrow. I can now solve a rubix cube and in less than 3 minutes I might add. So that’s pretty chill. A car bomb went off in the street next to ours. That was a fun thing to wake up to Wednesday night. I ate alpaca which was delicious. I thought it was lamb the whole time until I was finished and someone told me what it was then I liked it even more! I also ate chicken feet soup again, which is delicious. We have 13 new investigators and 4 new families so hopefully they will come to church this next week because none of them could come this week and that killed us. Hopefully we can get these baptisms because they are all sick gnarly awesome. I don’t know if I’m getting transferred so hopefully I don’t because this area is killing it right now, also I want to baptize the dinosaur lady.

Make sure once Landon gets his call you tell me because I’m itching to know.

Don’t trust technology even your American 16G USB drive can magically break when you use it one day a week...

--

Elder Sy E. Woolstenhulme

Misión  Perú  Lima  Norte

Febrero 2012 - Marzo 2014

LIFE IS LIKE A BUS RIDE...

July 16, 2012

Hello family

O man do I have a tale for you all. This week started off with a surprise interview from the president! So that was fun to have that talk to figure out all that I have progressed in. He said that I have made a complete 180 with my domineer, he said I seem happier and more ready and faithful... ha-ha I don’t feel much different it was probably just the haircut.

I have good news and bad news... I will give you all the bad news first. Our investigator Joel Prado cannot be baptized. And I and Elder Cifuentes have zero progressing investigators. I was having a work visit with the zone leader that day in order for Elder Cifuentes to do an interview in the area of the zone leaders. After I heard that he couldn't get baptized my heart fell. We have worked so hard on this man and his life is so tough right now and I said to myself. Self. This is your first real tough feeling you have on your mission. You need to decide now, how you will react, negatively will destroy your excitement in the work, and positively will strengthen it. I knew I had to look forward in faith. He cannot get baptized for probably over a year. But we are going to help him as much as we can while we are in this area then when that day comes, he can be ready. The next day, yesterday, we found a new family, Marino and Raquel with their 4 children Luz (11), Diego (9), Lionel (5), and Jousue (3). We found them after a lesson we had with another one of our investigating families, Marivel and Martin with their two twin sons Paul and Bryan (14). After dinner we found another man named Santos. This man is ready. I always heard stories of missionaries meeting people completely prepared for the missionaries and I thought I would never find one. But man he asked us multiple times questions about exactly what we were going to teach on next page. He asked us about the other sheep not of this fold. (Before teaching about Christ’s visit to the Americas) about “Where is the new prophet? God always calls a prophet.”  (After teaching prophets and before Joseph Smith). And when we asked him to pray at the end of the lesson he asked us if he could kneel to show respect for God. Oh my good golly goodness myfatherdweltinatent! Was it unreal - shoot dang - I’m pumped and I really hope I don’t get transferred this next week.

So today! P day my super stud zone leader Elder Harris called me up the night before with a proposition. He needed to go to the offices and he needs the other zone leader in the zone to help with P day stuff. So shoot dang, who should I take to the offices with me?!?¿¿? The awesome new gringo in the zone so as we are going down to the offices we are working on the rubix cube and I’m pretty much a master. So we get the packages then go get some breakfast talk with the homies then grab some McDonald's ! Explore and kick it fatty then go deep into Lima West territory to get the papers for the marriages for the zone. Came back said peace out and got on a bus home. But little did we know the bus would be a trap, we were too focused on me learning the rubix cube that we didn't realize that the bus we were on was the right bus, but it was going the wrong way!!!!!! So after a spiritual impression from my ZL we realized we were far from our destination. We then exited the bus and realized we were straight up gone hahahah so after about a half an hour looking for another bus and talking to people we found the bus and peaced out here to internet time. A little late but I’m with the zone leader so it’s all chill.

I saw my package in the offices. I don’t have it yet it’s in my apartment with Elder Cifuentes, but I got it. Thanks doll face. All your Lake Powell pictures look so awesome I wish I could be with you, but I’m too busy freezing my buns off and getting lost in Peru ha-ha. I hope Brandon is lovin the dungeon boy duties and I hope Elle feels welcome. You better make a sweet video this year. I miss you all a ton and love all your prayers.

Mom let me know how much a hymn book is in English.

Just found out we are going to the temple tomorrow!!! Sick!

“Life is like bus ride, if get on the wrong bus, don’t worry… Just get on the next one.”

--

Elder Sy E. Woolstenhulme

Misión  Perú  Lima  Norte

Febrero 2012 - Marzo 2014

TOCUSH TASTES LIKE POO

July 9, 2012

Well this week started off with a taste of Peru. Not a good taste, it is called... tocush and it is horrible. The Peruvians eat it as a cure-all and I had heard about it from all the Peruvians. I finally got a chance to eat it, I had one ... one! spoonful. If you know how a horse stable smells, that is the taste exactly. It tastes like a horse stable. Haha, but now I can say I ate tocush and didn't puke like my companion. This Wednesday was the conference for the zone leaders and at 7 in the morning we got a call saying that the district leaders in Lima are supposed to be there as well. So my companion and the other district leader left for the mission office leaving Elder Maldonado from Honduras and me alone and unprepared. So we are both brand new missionaries walking back and forth from our areas and we ended up at one of my investigator's house. We taught the third lesson and I committed him to baptism and he accepted for the 21st so that's pretty sweet. He also came to church this Sunday so now he has two attendances. This week we are going to finish the lessons and get him interviewed. I am about 20 chapters away from finishing the Book of Mormon again. I started the first day in the field and I'm about to finish it. I plan on tossing it in my suitcase and never reading in English again haha, but we will see. We have dropped almost all of our investigators because none are progressing and we have been contacting like wild Laminites so hopefully our efforts will be positive and we can find those golden children ready to listen in these last weeks of this transfer. I'm jealous of all your 4th of July fun, but its fine because Saturday and Sunday was the Dia de Amigos so all the drunks were really nice to us haha .

the church is true.

its for everyone, me and you.

tocush tastes like poo. 

peace love baptisms

Rocio Mallque - the young girl that Sy talked about in his letter last week.