Committed to Each Other--CTR Style!

Another funny from the wedding of the Mera family is that they weren’t able to afford wedding rings so we told them not to worry about that and that we would come up with something. We thought for a while and decided that we should talk to the Primary President to see if she had those green CTR rings that she could give us. She did and so Gerlin and Inyes are committed together with CTR rings.

Dry Clean Only?

This past week we were able to finally see the Mera family meet their goal by getting married this past weekend. Some things came up and they weren’t able to get baptized this past weekend but we are working hard with them so that they can meet that goal this weekend. It was really a neat experience seeing this young couple take such big strides in putting their lives in order. It is really a rare thing to see here in Peru, a young couple with lots of influences from the world, to have the courage to do what’s right and what will bring them closer together and strengthen their family. The branch really came together to help put together a really special reception for them after the wedding. Everything from Inca Cola to chicken and rice was served! Gerlin didn’t have a suit to wear so I was quick to lend him mine and it fit him just right. Inyes wanted to return the favor and thank me for lending my suit so she took it upon herself to wash my suit for me. Last night when we stopped by to pick it up she told me that it was “drying”. Now the word drying doesn’t go together really well with a suit that is only meant to be Dry-Cleaned. I couldn’t help but laugh and just look on the brightside because all she wanted to do was make it up to me and seeing how innocent she was just made it all worth it. I explained to them that it was a dry-clean suit and Gerlin asked “what the heck is that”. Yeah I can’t help but love them but today I will see how my suit turned out so if it doesn’t turn out to great, don’t be alarmed if you see that I have taken out some money to find a replacement.

PS...The suit did not survive! It was only a Costco suit, so it lasted pretty darn well. What a memory!

Wearing The Name Tag With Pride

Your missionary son is doing really quite well and wearing his plaque with lots of pride and thankfulness. Its funny you should say something about my plaque because this past week I was thinking about just that. Even though it might not have the same significance to others who see it, it is a symbol of a call that has come from our Savior to represent him and bring his children home. It is what sets us apart from the world and we should always be worthy to wear it.

"I Will Always Be Their Missionary"

This weekend we are going to get the Mera Family married and BAPTIZED. Inyes and Gerlin is really a young couple with so much excitement and desires to do what’s right and put their lives in order. They have two little kids who make it quite an adventure trying to teach but its all part of the experience. This is the first family that I will get married outside of a massive marriage so it has been quite a little learning experience for me. Lots of papers, lots of time in lines, but by small and simple things are great things brought to pass. I love this little family and helping them along to really find the happiness and joy that lasts.
This last week we had interviews and I had a really neat conversation with President Perez. President Perez is a convert to the church and this last interview he was sharing with me about how the people i find and teach will always remember me and what I did for them. He said that “I will always be their missionary” and knowing that he was a convert I asked him who his missionary was. He said he didn´t want anything to do with the missionaries instead his girlfriend (Sister Perez) and the ward mission leader taught him. I laughed because its kind of ironic. But it was just another testimony to me that the is truly the Lords work. I pray everyday that the seeds I sow might someday sprout and take root so that my family here in Peru can also have the same blessings and joy that I have thanks to the Restored Gospel.
Well Family you all take care and remember how much I love you. Thanks for the great letters and words of encouragement. Oh how lucky and blessed I am.

Special Weekend With Special People

I´m so glad that I can just say that it was another week in Paradise and what a very special week it was. We are already able to see a lot of the fruits from our labors and efforts here in Tarapoto and everything just seems to be getting stronger and stronger little by little.

Elder Vasquez and I had a couple of very special baptisms this past week, one that I´m not soon to forget. We completed the Soria Ramirez family by baptizing the wife, Olga Ramirez. Olga is eighty years old and has been receiving the missionary lessons for over two years. Last year her husband Victor was baptized but Olga just couldn´t quite make the decision to enter the waters of baptism. It was kinda sad because for the longest time the missionaries stopped visiting her. We found her by looking through the old teaching records in our Area Book and decided to see how she was doing. We began teaching her, gaining her trust, and building a very special bond. She chose her own baptismal date and hung in there to make it a reality. It was so funny/special teaching her because he just had eye surgery and she has to wear really dark glasses and she never looked like she was paying attention until we would ask about what were teaching and she would give us a little summery of what we taught always followed by her simple testimony. She has a daughter who isn´t a member who had tried to discourage her from getting baptized but every time she would say something to Olga, Olga would tell her that what she was doing was what the Lord wanted her to do in this moment in her life. She is such a great example to me of strengh and following the Lords will even when its not easy.

Before entering the baptismal font she expressed to me that she wouldn´t be able to go up the steps that led to the font. I told her that I would have to carry her then, and that’s what I did. I picked her up in my arms and led her into the baptismal font. She was able to stand up for the prayer but in order to dunk her I had to pick her up again and lower her in the water. It was really a special experience for me, being able to help Olga make her first covenant with the Lord. I carried her out of the water and on her wrinkled and aged face was a smile from ear to ear. Even though she doesn’t have any teeth it made my day seeing how happy she was. We also baptized her granddaughter Micaela who had actually came from a little mountain village of Shapaja just to be baptized. It was a special weekend all around!

Make Every Day Count...

I love working with the leaders of a District because they take what we as Missionaries say alot more seriously because they have to answer to President Perez and we represent President Perez here in Tarapoto. Yesterday Elder Vasquez and I put on a giant training for the Branch Presidencies, Branch Missionaries, and Branch Mission Leaders. It went so well and turned out to be alot of fun. We know that the only way the Tarapoto will be able to become a stake is only if the leaders and the missionaries are able to work together and efficiently. We watched a few little videos as well as did some practices. I reminded me of the MTC with all of the practices and the awkwardness that was present but it was great for these leaders to put into practice the doctrine. That is kind of what Elder Vasquez and I are focusing on ¨Putting the Doctrine into action¨. Alot more Work and alot less Talk is what´s going to help Tarapoto progress.

I´m excited for the coming weekend because we have a few baptisms lined up with some very great and special people. I´ll have to wait until the next letter to tell you more about them. I´m so glad to hear that you are all happy and well and just loving life. Take advantage of every moment because once its gone, its gone forever. Make everyday count and end it without regrets. I know that this is the work of the Lord and I am so grateful to wear his name on my chest for two years. I know that we are lead today by an inspired and chosen prophet who loves us and if we follow him, we cannot fail. Never loose sight of just how blessed and loved we are. I love you all so much!

Landon's First Emergency Room Visit--And It's Peruvian Style! Ouch!

Like I´ve always said there just isn´t a dull moment in the mission and this week definitely supported that thought. I officially got my first experience with the Emergency Room and I got it Peruvian style.
Last Wednesday we did a giant service project as a zone where we were going to help clean up an elderly sisters garden and yard. We all showed up with our shovels, rakes, and machetes. We began by cutting limbs and branches and I wish the limbs part only pertained to the trees but it doesn’t always turn out the way you plan it. While I was cutting up high I hit a knot in the tree and it caused me to drop my machete and as it came down it decided to do a little damage. It gashed opened my left hand above the fingers and made for a lot of blood. I looked at it and looked at my comp and said ¨Hey Elder Vasquez, me corte, VAMOS! (Hey Elder Vasquez, I cut myself, LETS GO!) Elder Seaman, from SLC and my district leader, dutifully applied the first-aid techniques approved by the Boy Scouts of America by ripping his shirt in a masculine fashion and applying direct pressure to the wound...EPIC! We jumped in a little moto-taxi and headed for the nearest medical clinic to find the best medical attention which the jungles of Peru has to offer. Luckily it was only two blocks but seeing the condition of the clinic I was definitely willing to look for another place but I didn´t complain. The first thing they asked us before letting us in was ¨Who´s going to pay?¨ and ¨What happened?¨ in that order. They took me into a back room and started to sow me back up. The bill came to a whomping 24 soles (8 dollars) which is great reflection of the quality of medical care that we can get here in the jungle. It was a great adventure but one that I don´t really want to experience again here soon.

Love You All!

Well family I hope this finds you all happy and well. I appreciate you all so much and love hearing about all the little things that you are all up to. Keep on keeping on and do what’s right. I love ya tons and don´t you forget it!
PS Can you thank Bill Workman for the great letter that he wrote me this past week? I am going to write him a hand written one this week but just let him know that it meant a lot to me. Thanks!

A Camping Trip Every Night!

We got settled in our new little cottage and needless to say, we are definitely showing an example of humility. Our entire zone has really nice rooms with everything they need, while Elder Vasquez and I have a very tiny two room house with one little bathroom. The only parts that are covered by a roof are our bedroom (well part of it) and where we study. But I am not complaining, I feel like I am camping every night and it just can´t get any better than that. We have already had visits from frogs, snakes, and other junglish creatures, but its all part of the job. Besides, sitting on the toilet under a full sky of stars has got to be something that just not everyone gets to experience, lol.

I STILL HAVE A LONG WAY TO GO!

I absolutely love my zone of Tarapoto and the way that my bunch of Elders are already meshing together and enjoying the joy that this work brings. They definitely make my responsibilities light and worth wild. I am so thankful for Elder Vasquez and everything he has already taught me. He is a great guy with lots of patience with me. Being zone leader has really made me look at the work in a different way and has really helped me to widen by vision as a missionary. It’s definitely a time to learn and grow and to make every second count. I have loved all of the little obstacles and new challenges that the Lord has trusted me with, and I feel as if I did my best and learned what he wanted me to learn. BUT I STILL HAVE A LONG WAY TO GO!

Elder Holland's Special Easter Message From Conference

And for our Spanish speaking friends--

Landon's Testimony of Conference

Yesterday afternoon, as the afternoon session concluded I turned to one of the Elders in my zone and told him ¨I wish conference was all day everyday¨. I came away from this Aprils conference full of new energy, excitement, determination, and a stronger sense of the love that our Heavenly Father has for us. One thing is for sure though; no matter what is going on in the world we will always have that shining beacon showing us the way if we always follow the councils of our loving Prophet, Thomas S. Monson.

This last conference I decided to do something a little different to try to get the most out of it and to give me the chance to receive my own personal revelation. I thought of ten questions that I thought we help me grow as a person and my ability to show this Gospel. Everyone one of my questions was answered more than once in so many different ways. I want to share one of the questions that I thought of as well as the answers I received. I asked myself ¨How can I strengthen my Family while being far away. ¨ One thing that seemed to always come up was our loyalty to the convenants that we as a family have made to be sealed together. If I do my part and stay worthy of the blessings that come from the temple, that example will leak out and help those around me. I loved how it was repeated so many times to draw near to the house of the Lord and to always be worthy of the blessings that can only come from the temple. I love you guys and hope that you never forget or doubt that for a moment. I know we are guided by a living prophet who loves us and will only show us the right thing to do. I have many imperfections and many things that I want to change, but I know I can always do better thanks to the love of my Heavenly Father.

Looking Forward to Conference!

I´m really excited for conference this weekend. Its amazing but even here in the remote mountain jungle of Peru, the saints will be able to participate. I love hearing the councils of our Prophets. I just want you to know that I sustain each and every one of them. They are men called of God in this time to prepare us to return with our loving Heavenly Father.

Well , family sorry this is short but I am alive, well, and just loving what gets thrown at me. I love you all, and i hope you can always see the love of our heavenly father in your lives.

The Lord is Mindful of Each of Us...

We have a great deal of work to do here in Tarapoto but the entire zone is looking forward to the challenge. Tarapoto is actually a district with about 5 little branches. Before we got on the plane President Perez told us quite frankly what our mission will entail. ¨Tarapoto has to be a stake by the end of the year¨. So that is what we are going to do, we have to build and strength Tarapoto enough to meet the requirements of being a Stake. I´m more than excited for the challenge and the trust that the Lord and President Perez has put in us.
I´m quickly learning that there is never a dull moment here in the mish. This past week we have been faced with the reality of not knowing the area, the land lady has given us by the end of the day to pack our bags and find a new house, and the assuredly that the Lord is taking great care of his missionaries. Even in the midst of so much worry and stress, the Lord quickly reminds me that he is there and willing to carry his part of the load. This past week I have really leaned on him alot and he hasn´t let me down. I have found the peace and comfort that comes from trusting in him and putting His will before my own. He loves and is taking care of me, as well as each one of you.