Looking Forward to the Mother's Day Call!

Heck yes I can talk to Brian when I call! I really want to talk to him and see how everything is going. I will be making a phone call in the near future to set up the big phone call. But that probably won’t be until next week or sometime. I am doing good and the work is still true and always will be. I love you tons and appreciate everything you guys are doing for me. Thanks.

Hurrah For Israel!

Right now we have about 6 people who will be baptized in the next month or so. One of them is a single mom with a little boy of about ten years of age. The rest of the family are members and she is going to be baptized this weekend by her dad. It is going to be a really special baptismal service. The little boy Manuel is full of energy and is so weird when we come over its great. But the funny thing is, is that they can’t pronounce my name. But a little while ago they watched "The Other Side of Heaven" and knew of Calipoki ( I'm sure I spelled that wrong) so since he was a gringo too they call me Calipoki. Its pretty fun. Hurrah for Israel!!

Sowing Seeds, Reaping Rewards

At the transfer meeting I was talking with the elders who are in Ancon (my first area) and I was asking them about one of my investigators named Sonia. Elder Choque and I taught her for about 2 weeks before we got transferred. I was seeing how she was doing and come to find out she got baptized. Elder Bagley showed me pics of the baptism and everything. I was so excited. I knew she would get baptized I just didn’t think it would be so soon. She is a single mom with 4 kids and here in the near future the rest of the clan is going to be baptized so that’s exciting.

We Keep on Keeping On!

Well its official, I am in the zone of Puente Piedra and there wasn’t an emergency transfer or anything! I am in the area of Palermo and it is a huge area. Right now there are four missionaries in it. Before there was only two but since it is so huge they decided to split it and stick some more elders in there. My new comp is named Elder Duran and he is from Arequipa Peru. This is actually his first time being a senior companion and neither of us know the area so we are sort of in a state of confusion right now! But its all good!

Learning and Growing and Making New Friends

Well this past week Elder Trinidad and I celebrated his 3rd anniversary in the Church. He was only a member for about 2 years before he left on his mission. It really humbles me knowing that so many of these Latino elders have sacrificed so much and have entered into this work with nothing more than a strong testimony. It amazes me how much my comp knows and how powerfully he can express his testimony of the gospel. Having grown up in the church, I can’t really even imagine the kind of faith he has. I love Elder Trinidad and am sad that we are heading to different areas but there is a reason for it. Last night he told me that there are people in Puente that need what I have to offer and there are people in the jungle that need what he has to offer. Even though things don’t always make sense we need to have faith and continue to work. Because after all we aren’t in charge and this isn’t our work. I have learned so much from him and am excited to see him later down the road.

Before Landon left on his mission, we had Elder Munoz in Buhl, serving in the Idaho Boise Mission. He is actually from Lima, Peru. Landon was able to spend some time with the Spanish speaking Elders and go on some teaching appointments with them. We were fortunate to meet such wonderful young men!

Trying to keep in touch...

I am glad you are sending me word from Kyle. I haven’t heard from either KC or Kyle and I always wonder how the heck they are doing. Thanks for sending me that letter from Kyle. I am glad that he was able to see Big-T, lol. And don’t worry, I am working on getting a letter to the ward! We haven’t had a post office for the past change because we are after all kinda out in the boonies but I will hopefully get one sent off here soon.
Tell everyone hi for me and thanks for all that they do for me.
Thanks for everything guys. I love you tons and miss you!!!

Harvest is in Full Swing

Things are really starting to cool down here in Paramonga as well! At night I sleep with a sheet now!!! But last night for some reason it was kinda chilly so I wore a stocking hat and my sweater but I don’t think I will have to do that to much more. Things are really busy in Paramonga because the sugar cane harvest is in full swing. Everything is done by hand and I have never seen people work as hard as those people do who do the cutting. But it is a really cool thing to see, harvesting of sugar cane.

I Wish I Had Six More Weeks!

Well it’s that time again and I am off to the zone of Puente Piedra. (Puente Piedra means "The Stone Bridge") I guess they really want me there cuz this is the second time they have tried to send me there. (See postings from March 12th and 17th) I hope nothing goes wrong this go round. My new comp will be Elder Duran and he is currently in the jungle so we will both be brand new to our area. That should be really interesting. But I really wish I had six more weeks in my area of Paramonga. Both Elder Trinidad and I are leaving but we both want to stay for another go round. As of right now we have three people committed for baptism on the 10 of May (MOTHERS DAY) and we are going to commit two families tonight. Yeah!!!! I really wish I was going to be here with them they get baptized. We could have 11 baptisms next month and I just remember that it doesn’t matter who does the baptizing as long as it gets done. Our new convert Bertha is the bomb! She has a son who is going to get married but she wants them to get married in the temple so we are teaching them as well. They know it will be a process but they are willing to wait which I thought was really cool. She wants her entire family to get baptized so she is already doing missionary work!

We Won't Complain!

Don’t let the lawn care get to crazy, lol. I saw a lawn care crew here in Peru and it was really different from those in the States. They ride bikes and they strap their lawn mower, weed eater, and fuel on the back of their bike and they ride around cutting grass. That’s the rich ones!! usually it’s a single guy with a machete. So tell Brian to not complain when he has to sit on that Dixon to cut some grass, lol.

Learning to be Bilingual--

We had a family home evening with a member on Monday and at the end they all wanted me to pray in English. I tried to tell them that I couldn’t but I wasn’t very successful. So I started and I quickly realized just how hard it was to pray in English. I was sticking in Spanish here and there and I was thinking of what to say in Spanish and trying to translate it to English. It was quite difficult, but at the same time I am thankful for it. English isn’t going to do me a lot of good for a while and I am thankful that the good old Spanish is coming along.

Working with a greenie...

LAST Week Landon Wrote--We are going to have work exchanges and my companion is going to another area and guess who is coming to my area?? The new Greenie!! We have a new elder in our zone and I guess he is really scared too. So lucky us they are sending him with me! a gringo who can barely communicate! lol. But Elder Trinidad said that it’s times like these that miracles happen so I hope he is right. So yeah, please pray extra hard for us!

THIS Week Landon Wrote--Tuesday Elder Sandagorada and I took to the streets of Paramonga to spread the word. Between the two of us we have a grand total of 3 months experience in the mission field!!! But that didn’t matter, before we changed companions elder Trinidad told me that its times like these that miracles happen, and he was right. Elder Sandagorda has a speech problem and I am a gringo that can barely speak but it’s all good. I was really nervous and had a ton of doubt come over me. We both prayed really hard and then got to work. My tesitimony of being instruments in Gods hand really grew. He knew what his children needed to hear and he used us to deliver the messeage. We had a great day and I learned a lot, and got some experience of being the senior companion, which was good!

We Are Engaged In A Battle

So this past week I realized first hand of just what kind of a battle we as missionaries and members of the church are truly fighting. Monday afternoon there was a radio broadcast that was heard in all of Peru for about and hour and a half. It talked about a polygamist group in Texas and all of the terrible things that the their leaders are doing to the young girls that become trapped in their cult. And it seemed to happen all the time; they referred to the group as “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints” and the “Mormons”. We definitely felt its affect on our teaching and our investigators as well as the members. I think we got a record for doors slammed in our faces because of what they heard. Members were pulling us aside and asking us tons of questions about what was going on and what our stand was and stuff like that. Satan in tricky and knows how to stick in a jab but its great to know that we are going to overcome, and the truth will prevail. We just have to keep working hard and doing what we have been called to do.

This past week I was thinking of really what I want to accomplish on my mission and what kind of goals I should set for myself personally to help myself grow. One thing that I thought of was how could I finish my mission with the feeling that I had been successful, and how could I apply that to every area that I am assigned. I thought for a while and the thought came to me that if I make a solid effort to leave an area better than I found it, than I would be a success. I feel as though if I have this attitude the baptisms will come, friendships will be made, and I will make lifelong memories. I never wanted to make a goal of a 100 baptisms or anything like that but I wanted something that would be meaningful and that would affect the entire mission.
D&C 71:3-6

¡Conferencia fue Poderoso!

Conference was really amazing and I am still walking around on my huge spiritual high. We weren’t able to attend any of the Saturday sessions but we watched both on Sunday. I told Elder Trinidad that this was the first time I wouldn’t be attending Priesthood session with my dad and brother. It really hit me how special it was to attend Priesthood with Dad and Brian. But Sunday morning the district President managed to round up a television for us gringos so that we could watch it in English. But conference was so amazing and I didn’t want it to end. President Monson seems to have an even more powerful voice behind him. I want you to know that I sustain each and everyone of them and this work truly is led by a God who speaks and directs.

Filling the Font!

So this past week has been loaded!!! First off, on Friday we had the baptism for Hermana Bertha. But it was quite an adventure to get everything in order for it. Paramonga right now is kinda in a drought and we only get water for certain times of the day for a certain period of time. Lucky our time in our apartment is in the morning so we can take a shower, but the time for the chapel is at 3 in the morning. We had it all planned out to were Elder Trinindad and I would clean the font Thursday during the day and then President Condermarin (our Branch President who is the clown for a living) would wake up and turn on the water to fill the font. But come Friday morning we went to check on the font and it was completely clean and very dry. The President didn’t wake up on time so that left us with an empty font! So Elder Trinidad and I hauled water for six hours Friday. The nearest place we could get water was at a member’s house 4 blocks away and the only member that could help us was our mission leader but he did more overseeing that work! It was times like that, that I wish we had a Grant Loveless in my branch! lol. By the end of six hours with no breakfast and lunch we decided that we had enough water, when actually it only came to our knees. But the work still goes on and we performed the baptism for Bertha. It was really great and quite a few member showed up which is always a good sign. I gave a short little talk about the spirit and its role in our life after we have received the gift of the Holy Ghost. It was all good.

Saturday she invited us over for lunch. This was the first time we had eaten in a member’s home so I was a little nervous but it was very good. We had chicken, rice, and French fries. Oh and this really cool drink that they make from corn, kinda crazy but it tastes really good.

The Boys Are Growing Up!

So I got the package you sent and that little Carson (Curt and Anna’s 5 month old) has grown so much!!! And all of his hair! he definitely looks like Halle. (And Anna, and Brian!) I also enjoyed the very smoking pics of Brian in Anna’s shorts. He could have posed for a really old year book picture, lol. My comp thinks he’s crazy!

Free Car Wash!

Friday we held a zone car wash. We washed the taxis for free as long as they gave us their addresses! The chapel that we did it at is a little ways from the highway so the four of us gringos in the zone had the responsibility to go to the highway and get people to go to the car wash. I wish I had my camera with me because it was very entertaining! Picture this, four white elders dancing around with pink and purple signs yelling “Free car wash, at the chapel of the Mormons”. Yeah it was a blast! It was crazy and our zone leader said that we probably wouldn’t get to do this again on our mission so take advantage of it, lol. We did! But we got quite a few people to stop and get their taxi washed and alot of names to contact!

Giant Bugs, Cold Showers, and The Church is Still True

The other night just when we got done with companion prayers and such I jumped in bed and was just about asleep when I felt something run across my back. I freaked and jumped up. I shook all of my sheets trying to see what the heck it was cuz this thing had some GIRTH lol. Come to find out it was this huge beetle thing. When I killed it, it left quite a mess, lol. But at least it isn’t going to wake me up again! Oh and our hot water went out so its back to the good old cold showers!
(Brian has an assignment to find 40 insects for a collection for Biology. How he wishes Landon could share some of his!)

Busy with baptisms and buses...

The baptism we had planned for this past weekend actually got postponed and we will be baptizing her this Friday. Her name is Bertha and she wants her family who live Lima to be able to be there so we are waiting for this Friday. It is really kinda interesting teaching her because she is kinda forgetful, lol. So we are constantly teaching principles again and again but it’s all good. She passed her interview and is ready to go.

We also convinced our Branch President to organize a bus so that the members and the investigators in Paramonga can all attend General Conference in Barranca. We had our weekly meeting with him the other day and we are going to be doing some really sweet stuff in the up coming weeks. So I will let you know how they work out! (or if they don't!)