Wow Members!

Hola Familia!!
Hey everbody, once again it's P-day and I'm a little more lost for
words this week than usual. I'll try to write something of
consequence.

This week was really just full of STUFF. There were some happy moments
and some sad ones too. Right after I wrote last week we went to Tottus
(Peruvian Walmart). It's out of our area but we got special permission
to go there because we had nothing to eat. So we went there and had to
figure out what we could buy that didn't need refrigeration and didn't
need to be heated either. It was an interesting experience. We bought
a lot of cereal, yogurt that doesn't necessarily need to be
refrigerated, jam, and this really good caramel stuff. And we bought
an electric water kettle for hot drinks in the mornings. That's about
it that we could find for food. After that we had Noche de Hogar at
our house. There was our one investigator family, the Mendoza family.
And their kids invited some friends, who also invited some friends,
and before we knew it we had like 20 kids at our house. I shared a
spiritual message about faith, then we played some games. It was fun
and we made some contacts with the kids and their families.
Tuesday was pretty interesting too. It was full of more of the sad
stuff. We went to the Mendoza family to ask if they would give
permission to their kids to be baptized. Only the dad, Rolando was
home, but we went anyway. We asked all the kids if they wanted to be
baptized but they were really paying attention and neither was he, so
he eventually said no, because they weren't ready. It was sad to hear.
We were kind of just depressed for the rest of that day too. And after
we got home from contacting and tracting, we found that the outdoor
awning/roof that we have outside in our courtyard totally fell down.
It was funny just because we were at that point that a bunch of bad
stuff was happening that day.
Wednesday was really good. There are four of us that live in the
apartment, so we went on splits on Wednesday just to mix stuff up. I
went with Elder Ruggiero who is from South Jordan. He and I get along
really well. He told me a bunch of helpful stuff about the language
and learning how to teach and the culture and stuff. He has really
turned into a good friend. We find more stuff in common every day,
like how much he likes baseball (his family is from Boston and he's a
huge Red Sox fan). Wednesday was also the first day I bought Peruvian
street food. We kind of have to for dinner because we have nothing to
cook with at home, unless we want like jelly sandwhiches and cereal
for dinner, which kind of gets old. But the street food is Salchipapa.
It's like Chow Mien and ham fried rice with french fries. Its pretty
good, even though it doesn't sound like it. We get it with fried
chicken too, which just makes it even better.
Thursday was kind of difficult because we had our first 4 way
companionship arguement. The arguement was really just a
misunderstanding, but it all stemmed from money that we needed to get
reimbursed for our taxis and stufff that we used while we didn't live
in our area. We worked everything out and all is good now. I think
we're a little more close now as a group becuase we've gone through
some of that stuff. Also on Thursday we started a fast for our
investigators so they'll accept baptismal dates. I also got a lot
better on my contacting approach in Spanish which was good.
Friday was hard because I didn't have hardly any strength. We walked a
ton that day too. We found some people to teach and did a ton of
contacting but I was feeling out of it till I ate. I wasn't feeling
the spirit of the fast at all I didn't think it was doing any good,
but something really cool happened on Sunday that I'll tell you about
later, that I think is a little bit of a miracle.
Saturday was cool because I actually got to interact with MEMBERS!!!!!
The Stake President and several members came to our house/chapel to
clean it up. They cleaned up the fallen roof, and we leveled out the
crappy front yard that we have in order to make a way to put in a
lawn. The Mission President wants us to make the church actually look
like a church, so we're going to put in a lawn, flowers, re-finish the
brick walls, paint, and put lights up. It's going to eventually look
really pretty. But anyways, I actually got to be with members, it was
awesome. I definately took it for granted that there are 200 members
at church everyweek in Salt Lake. We don't have hardly any in my area,
so it's tough to show our investigators what the church culture is
really like.
So then Sunday came around. We went around inviting people to church
but hardly any of them could come. There was a town meeting in the
square from like nine in the morning till twelve and so a bunch of our
investigators were there. We eventually found six investigators to
come to church, which was good. We also finally met the brach
president and his family, so at least now we have him to help with
church on sundays. We had like 23 new investigators this week too, so
hopefully by next week we can get settled and get church going. We
could easily get like 50 people to be at church, we just have been
getting unlucky on some stuff for the past three weeks. I have a
feeling we're going to have a bunch of people there on next Sunday.
So Sunday night something special happened. We went over to the
Mendoza family again just to talk to them. But this time all four of
us went. We just talked with them, about all kinds of things, work,
sports, their country, ours. Then we talked about the church, temples,
members, the growth of the church, and a lot of good the church does
in a humanitarian way. We just tried to be thier friends and member
neighbors. Then we asked again if the kids could be baptized this
week. The kids said they all wanted to and the parents said yes too.
It was a neat experience that I know our fast helped with. I'm so
excited!! We're going to have three baptisms this week and more
importantly, we're going to actually have a baptism service that our
investigators can come to so they can feel the spirit and see how its
done.
Yesterday was special for another reason too. It finally rained a good
amount. We heard that it hasn't really rained here for almost two
years. So that was cool. It was good to get a change of weather too.
The weahter here is kind of weird. It's hot and sunny in the morning,
then it cools way off at about four o'clock and gets really cloudy and
overcast. So what happens is I put on sunscreen in the morning and a
sweater in the after noon. I'm totally getting more tan here, and I
found out that there's a hole in the ozone layer here, so the sun is
really strong. I'll try and cover up as much as I can though, becuase
I don't want to damage my skin. With the lack of food in the mornings
and at night, I'm also losing a little weight. I don't know how much
but I can definately tell everything fits a little looser. Also, I
finally have hair. They cut it super short in the CCM, but now i can
actually lay it down flat on my head and put a tiny bit of a part in
it.
Well, that's about it for me this week. Thanks for all your prayers
and thougts. I could definately feel them this week. As I look back, I
can see the blessings in my life. At the time I thought I was having a
rough week, but now I know how blessed I really am. Continue to read
the scriptures, they are such a source of peace and comfort. We can
learn from them always. I can't wait until I can here the voice of the
prophet again in two years too. Please don't take modern revelation
for granted, it is such a blessing in our lives. I love you all, the
church is true.

Love,

Elder Child

Moving Day

Hey Familia,

Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day!! It's a huge holiday down here,
haha. Just kidding, its not. So it seems like just five minutes ago I
was writing all of you even though it's been a whole week. This week
was pretty crazy though, tons of stuff has happened. First off, after

I emailed last week we had to go to the main shopping market in the

central of Arequipa to get a knee brace for my comp Elder Usseglio
because his knee had been hurting for a while. It's not even in our
zone but we got permission. While we were there I bought ties for 10
soles a piece (that's like 3.50 dollars) so I had to limit myself to
just two. After that we went to the church and the gringos played some
basketball, it was pretty fun and a change from soccer. We played some
soccer after that but I'm so bad that it's not even funny. Then that
night we had Noche de Hogar (Family Home Evening) at that same
family's house that we had church in. It was fun and we shared some
spiritual messages with them and taught them about Noche de Hogar. The
member family we were staying with came with us so it was good to have
an actual member family with us. The mom, Aurelia, told us of her
experience with us. She said after we taught her that first lesson,
she couldn't sleep that night until she got on her knees and asked God
if our message was true. She said she felt peace and comfort and could
go back to sleep after that. She wants to get baptized and so do her
kids but the dad, Rolando, isn't too comfortable with everything. He's
a good guy and he likes our messages but he just doesn't want to act
on our committments. We'll see this week if he lets his kids get
baptized on Saturday, that will be 3.
So Tuesday was sad because we went to the doctor for Elder Usseglio.
His knee and back were hurting him and so we went to find out what's
up. The doctor said that he has a disk out of place in his back, and
there's not much they can do for some reason. Also his knee has no
fluid and his miniscus is strained. So it was difficult for him
because the best way to cure it is to rest a lot and he doesn't want
to do that. We'll see how it all turns out, there will probably be
some days that we won't work.
Friday we had a zone conference with the four assistants and the
President and his wife. Everybody was uptight for some reason but I
was blissfully ignorant. The President talked alot about obedience and
following the rules and stuff. And how we can be a good instrument in
the Lord's hands. He also talked about the Atonement and that the more
we understand the Atonement the more power we can teach with. We were
also shown how much we are working and how much we actually should be
working in the form of numbers. Everybody's numbers in our zone we
down quite a bit so we were humbled by it all. The Conference was from
1:30 till 8:30 at night so it was way long. I was super tired and a
little frustrated because it was all in Spanish. Let me introduce you
to my President a little bit. He's like 42 years old, has three kids,
is from Lima, and is super out going and in charge. I'm pretty sure
he's like a huge business man, he definately acts like it. He wants
every companionship to baptize every single week and for every
companionship to contact 90 people a day. These are really lofty goals
but it actually is possible if you work hard and find the people that
are prepared.
So Saturday was very interesting. Like I said before, we live like
half an hour away from Characato, so we were waiting for a house to
open up in Characato so we can live there. We got a house there
finally, but we had to move in there on Saturday. The Assistants were
going to call us to give us the green light on Saturday, but they
never did, and they didn't pick up their phones untill like 2:00 in
the afternoon. So finally were started to move at two, and finally we
got moved in at like 9:30 because we had to move all our desks, beds,
dressers, and clothes. The house is pretty big. Well at least the lot
is. There's two floors and we live on the top. There's three rooms up
there and nothing else. Then downstairs there's a room for a kitchen,
a living room, and a bathrroom. But there's nothing in the kitchen (no
appliances or anyhthing). And we have to go downstairs everytime we
need to use the bathroom. Then there's a huge courtyard and an even
bigger overhang garage in the back. This is where we're going to have
church from now on. The house is all in all nice, and it's good to
have church in that big space, but I miss the member family we lived
with. They were so loving and fed us well. I have a feeling that
there's going to be a scarcity of food from now on. We have to go buy
all our food today, and maybe something to cook it with, I'm not sure.
Sunday was a very busy, tiring day. We had to go get all the stuff for
church (chairs and a whiteboard) so that took up some hours. Then we
had to go round up people to go to church. While we were doing that,
the Mission President, his assistants, and the Stake President showed
up so we were all nervous because we didn't have anybody to got to
church. Finally we got nine people to go to church with us. We made it
happen, even though we were an hour late. Then after church we went
tracting for 6 hours. Just walking, and walking, and walking. We
taught like five lessons, but a ton of walking. I was starving and
tired, so I was kind of in a bad mood but ya. We had some cereal and
some bananas for dinner, so i was still starving, but it all worked
out. I'm going to have to get some walking muscles built up becuase I
was sore. I think we walked like 10 miles yesterday.
Even though it's been tough, I still feel the spirit every time we
teach. The Lord definately puts people in our path to find and teach.
I know that it is His work, because we wouldn't be able to do anything
if it wasn't for Him. I still know that what I'm doing is right, even
when I can't say anything in Spanish or I don't understand. If we put
in our effort, we will be blessed. That's about it for this week, I
have to go.

Love you all, and miss you some times but just know I'm okay.

Sincerely

Elder Child.

Characato!

Hey Familia!!!!
What's up guys? Sorry about not being able to email all of you on
Wednesday but it was my first day here in Arequipa and my P-day is on
Mondays so from now on you'll hear from me on mondays. Everything
here's has been crazy, i can't even remember what i did last week.
Well, I left the CCM at 2:45 in the morning on Tuesday and flew to
Arequipa. I got here at like 8:30 then the Assistants took us on a
mini tour of Arequipa, it was cool to see the city and the
architecture especially fascinated me. Then we ate breakfast at the
Mission Home. Then we just sat in a long training meeting from like
10:00 till 9:30 at night. Ya, I was wicked tired. We stayed at a
Peruvian Hostel that night, it was interesting to say the least. Then
the next day we all went back to the Mission Home to find out our
areas and our companions. 

I finally found out my area, Characato!!!
Characato is a brand new area. No members, no church, nothing. The
people there are way humble becuase they are pretty poor. All the
roads are dirt roads, and the town is built on a steep hill, so we
have to either walk up or down, no flat areas. My companion is super
cool. He's from Peru, his name is Elder Usseglio. He's been out for
nine months and has trained two other gringos like myself. He is my
Father, and I am his Son. Our apartment is in a member's home, the
Husmilda family. The wife is our pensionista (our cook/mom, if you
will) and the husband is the Bishop of a ward here. We live about
30-45 minutes away from our area so its kind of a pain to take a taxi
or bus every day. It cuts down on our proselyting time. We live with
two other missionaries, Elder Gammara from Peru, and Elder Ruggiero
from Salt Lake. He went to Bingham and he's pretty cool and always
helps me with Spanish.

The first day I got here we went proselyting and contacting. We taught
some lessons and everything is in spanish so i was pretty useless. I'm
continuing to learn more everyday but it's difficult for sure. The
people are so ready for the gospel for the most part. They are
escogido, or chosen. All but two people we have taught have excepted
the baptismal challenge on the first lesson. That is totally the work
of the Lord. We have seven possible baptism for this week and sixteen
possibles for next week. That is only if everything works out okay,
but still, 23 possible baptism in the work of one week is pretty good.

I'm running out of time so i'll try to close out now. Thank you so
much for all of your prayers and fasting, it has really made a
difference. I feel the savior's love for all the people i meet every
day and more especially for me. I know he will help me with the
language and with the teaching. I am humbled every time I enter an
investigator's home who have nothing, but want to follow the example
of the savior. We had an especially powerful experience on Friday. We
were literally walking up hill all day until like 7 when we decided to
go down hill. We were super tired and just decided to knock on one
more door at like seven fourty five. We found a family of five who
wanted to hear our message. We taught them the first lesson and
challenged them to be baptized, they accepted. The coolest part is
that, we don't have a chapel or anything in Characato, so we asked
them if we could have church at their house on Sunday. They accepted
that too and we had sacrament meeting and sunday school in their house
on Sunday with 12 of our investiagors. It was so cool. Imagine that,
to know of the gospel for 30 minutes and tell the missionaries that
they can use your house the next day for Church. I know that we will
have success there.

So much has happened in the last few days i can hardly remember it
all. I hope this gives you an idea of where i'm at. I'm doing just
fine. Hopefully i have the energy and strength to keep up with this
hard work of opening up a new farmland area. All the people are
farmers in Characato, with cows and horses. It has a ton of wide open
spaces and is absolutely breathtaking when we climb a huge hill and
look at the Andes mountains that surround us. We can see the vocanoes
too from Characato, its pretty awesome. And i can finally see the
stars out there at night becuase its out in the middle of nowhere.
Sorry but i have to go now. the Church is true, i know it for myself.
The Lord answers prayers and will lift you up if you lift up others.

Elder Child