Growing in Characato

Hola Familia,

Hey everybody, it feels like it was just Monday yesterday, but once
again I'm here writing you all. I'm a tiny bit shorter on time this
week becuase I got two full length emails this week from mom. That's
okay though, I'd rather have more time to read than to write emails.
Thanks for all the updates in your lives and in the sports world. It
makes me happy to hear from all of you. Even if it's a little about
your week and some positive thoughts.

This week was really good. Pretty stressful, but really good. First of
all, we had two baptisms. That was such a blessing for my companion
and me. We weren't even planning on getting those two baptisms until
Tuesday. On Tuesday we decided to focus on those two people and
becuase of our faith, Heavenly Father blessed us with time to teach
them. The two people were a nine year old boy named Bryan, and a
sixteen year old girl named Delia. Both baptisms were a little
stressful to organize becuase everybody here in Peru are so relaxed
and not very organized. But they eventually got done. We baptized
Bryan on Friday. We went to the planned chapel, but they didn't have
water in the font. So we went to the Stake Center but it was locked.
So then we called the Assistants and they said there was another
baptismal service where the Mission President was going to baptize the
investigator. So we went there and President Fernandez baptized Bryan
too. It was pretty special, but we had to leave early for the
interview of Delia. Delia is a really good investigator. We've known
her for almost the three months that we've been here but her Dad was a
little against us. But we were able to get his permission to teach her
and baptize her this week. It was a special event, but she just wanted
us (the missionaries) and her friend there, nobody else. It was a
little different to have a baptismal service with just six people, but
then I thought of the early church members who only had six people in
the entire church. It's amazing to see the growth of the church in the
world.

All of that happened on Friday and Saturday. Then yesterday we did
something pretty special that I learned a lot from. The Stake
President came over to our house yesterday afternoon with some Stake
members and we all went on splits with the members. I went with a
returned missionary and we went tracting and teaching. We only taught
one lesson in the hour and a half that we did the splits but it was
good for me. I pretty much was able to do everything, I talked to
people, set up appointments, and even taught a lesson. Pretty much it
was all by myself. I felt blessed in that moment that I was able to
talk to people and get through that time without my companion. I know
the Lord will bless us and strengthen us if we put our trust in him. I
prepared a fifteen minute talk for sacrament meeting, but didn't end
up giving it becuase we had testimony meeting instead. But my talk was
about the 2000 stripling warriors in Alma. Chapters 56 and 57 talk all
about how they put their confidence in the Lord and how they were all
saved from dying. I absolutely love the Book of Mormon. I just want to
read church material all day long. I joke with Elder Ruggiero that
we're going to come back to Utah and buy all the books from the
Distribution Center and Deseret Book and become church nerds. It's
pretty interesting how much my priorities and interests have changed
here in the mission. I don't really want to watch tv and movies but
want to be focused on a church calling, home teaching, and studying
the scriptures and the Sunday school material.

Also, I hate to say it, but Mom, you were absolutely right. I turned
into you in the mission. I'm always sweeping, picking up other
people's stuff, washing dishes, and taking out the trash. It's like
I'm these Elders' mom. But I would go insane if our house was a mess,
so I just deal with it.

Thanks again for the Sports updates. It's a little sad to hear the
Jazz aren't going to make the playoffs this year but I think that next
year they should be more experienced and united as a team, so that's
good to hear. That's cool that BYU got to the sweet sixteen too. I
heard that none of the Number 1 Seeds made it to the Final Four
either, that's interesting. Can't wait for baseball to get heated up
either.

Just for your information, I didn't recieve any package this week, but
it's not just me, it's the whole zone. The mission office has been
slacking a little bit on their package delivering responsibilities. I
hope this week I get one. Oh, and I did not get transferred either.
I'm going to be in Characato for a least another six weeks with my
same companions. We are going to take some cool pictures this week so
I'll probably burn a CD next week. We weren't able to take the pics
last week becuase we set up a cool Family Home Evening. We did the
Iron Rod activity with blind folds and string. It was fun and our
investigators appreciated it.

I want to tell you all that I absolutely love my mission. Even though
it's hard sometimes, that's how we learn the most. I love my companion
too and want to visit him in his home town later on. I hope we can all
learn a lot this week from General Conference. I am SO STOKED to hear
the prophets and apostles this week. I know that we can learn a lot
from them.

Lots of thoughts and love,

Elder Child

Never Give Up

Querido Famila,
Hey everybody. How's it going? Another week and another letter. I was
thinking about this week the last couple of days and it went by really
fast until yesterday. Sunday was so long, and I don't even know why.
It was kind of weird that's all. I'm kind of just going to be a little
random about everything in this letter, so, sorry if it doesn't make a
lot of sense.

First of all, I have to talk about what happened last P-day. We only
had like 140 contacts last week as a companionship, so the office said
we had to work last p-day instead of doing free stuff. We were kind of
mad but then realized that we're not here for ourselves. We're not
here to be comfortable and to just have a "good time". So this week we
were a little more motivated to get the mission goal of 350 contacts
in one week. We actually did it this week and I was proud of
ourselves.

This week was a fun week because it was my comp's birthday. He turned
24. We bought pizza and threw water balloons at him, it was pretty
fun. But actually, the fun didn't last too long because he was super
sick the next morning. We went to the doctor's and the doctor said
that he has an ulcer or something like that. So he couldn't eat any
food for like two days. Then when he did eat food, he was sick again.
It was kind of tough and I felt bad for him. But some good news, I'm
feeling mostly better because I finally got my medicine this week. I
have to take three pills a day for ten days and that should kill all
the bad parasite stuff that's inside me. The bad news is that we lost
like two days of working this week becuase of my comp's sickness.
That's okay though, we'll do better this week.

I was feeling pretty trunky this morning because the other American
Elder in our house, Elder Ruggiero, got to call his house this
morning. He got to talk to his brother becuase his brother was going
into Air Force Basic Training this week and he won't be able to talk
to him on Mother's day. I was thinking about the States a lot and
stuff like that, but I'm okay now.

We actually didn't have baptisms this week, which was kind of sad. But
the other two Elders had their first baptism in two tranfers here in
Characato. They baptized a 22 year old girl that really is special.
She has a super strong testimony and wants to share the gospel with
here whole family. She teaches Primary in our little branch of the
Church here in Characato. She even said she is going on a mission
soon. Those kinds of people is what makes this whole experience worth
it. Even though she wasn't "our" investigator, I felt God's love for
her as His daughter. I'm really glad to be here serving other people
and helping people come unto Christ and make their lives better.

Don't worry, should all be getting pictures soon enough. This is
possibly my last week here in Characato, so this P-day we are going to
all the cool picture spots to take pictures. We can only take pictures
on p-days, it's a rule of the Mission. So we're going to spend all day
taking pictures today. So that means I can't send them to you until
next week. Just wondering, in what format do you want the pictures? Do
you just want me to send you the memory card, or do you want me do
burn a DVD with all the pictures on there and send it to you? I could
do both, just let me know what would be easier to view/print. Nicole
would know more about that than me.

I found out this week too that General Conference is on April 2nd and
3rd. I'm so excited about that. I really want to here all that our
living prophets have to say to us. I also found out that the members
here do something special for the Gringo missionaries. They get an
English feed of General Conference and let us all see and hear it in
English in a seperate room. That's really exciting becuase I thought
that I would have to watch English in the translated version, which
just isn't the same.

Well, that's about it for me this week. I hope you all had a good St.
Patrick's Day. I also hope that March Madness is going well, as well
as baseball. I miss sports more than my family (is that bad?). The
season here in Arequipa is full of sun and warm weather so I better
get used to it for another 9 months until the rains come again.
Something I learned this week that really struck me hard was how much
patience we need to have with people. Sometimes in the mission field
we are so concerned about getting baptisms that we forget to have
patience with people. Brigham Young spent two years investigating the
church before he was baptized. Can you imagine what would have
happened if his family, friends, and members around him would have
given up on him after just a little while? Some people just take more
time than others. Like it says in Alma 32:16, some people are just
easier to believe the word of God than others. But we need to be there
for people for our entire lives if necessary. Never give up on your
home/visiting teaching families, no matter how long it takes to get
some of those less actives to church.

I love all of you once again and am thankful for all of your prayers.

Love,
Elder Child

Mas o Menos este Semana

Querido Familia,
Hey family what's up? Another week gone by here in Arequipa and it was
even faster than the last week. I trying to think of what to say this
week to make it seem like it was a picture perfect missionary
experience, but I really can't. Sometimes, we just have bad weeks.
Sometimes life isn't pretty and perfect like we would like it to be.
This week was pretty hard. It was definately a challenge for me and my
companions. First of all, Monday night our power got turned off
becuase we haven't paid the bill for three months. It wasn't our fault
though becuase the Office said that they were going to do it and they
didn't. So we didn't have power until Wednesday morning. That was
interesting and fun at the same time. I also learned that last Monday,
my companion's girlfriend broke up with him through an email. That was
really tough for him and he was sad for like three days, but he got
over it. I'm proud of him for that. He and I grew closer in that
experience but our numbers for this week suffered becuase of that.
Also, a little bit more of bad news, was that I was sick again this
week. I had my appettite and wasn't suffering much, but I was sick
enough to stay home for two days. It's nothing serious and I don't
want to worry all of you but it's the truth. I found out that I still
have a parasite and I just need to take some more pills for it. I feel
really good today, so maybe my body is fighting it off too.

I don't want to be a total downer, so I let you know of some good news
missionary work wise. We finally were able to get a serious baptismal
date for our investigator that fell through three weeks ago, Sixto. He
said he really does want to get baptized this week on Saturday, so we
are hoping it will all go through. He will be our first Priesthood
bapism here in Characato, so that's exciting. We also got news that
this stake wants to make Characato a branch. They are going to split
another ward and combine it with Characato to make a branch. They just
need some signatures from the Church Headquarters. We also learned
that Arequipa is super close to getting a temple. I should preface
this by saying that the goal of this mission is to get a temple built
here. Our President is crazy for trying to get a temple built here. We
need seven stakes (we have six) and we need enough tithing from the
members. So the rumor is that eventually, they want to make a
Characato Stake, if we get enough baptisms. The hard thing about
getting a stake is that we need enough Priesthood holders in order to
make one. I just thought I'd let you all know about that. So please,
pray for Arequipa to get enough people for a temple, they are super
close. There is only one temple in Peru, in Lima. It's like eight
hours away for most people, so my eyes were definately opened as to
how much sacrafice these people go through just to go to the temple.
We can go to something like 18 temples in the same amount of time it
takes these people just to go to one. That's a humbling thought.

Well, the other good news was that we found a family of 5 that is
really cool. They accepted everything we told them about the
Restoration and baptism. We have five more people lined up for the 2nd
of April now. The only thing is that transfers are on the 28th of
March, so I might not be here to see them get baptized. That's a
little sad to think about, but then I realize that it's not about
numbers, it's about people. That's all that matters.

Well, my time's up for this week. Thanks for all the prayers and
support. I've felt down and up this week and I know that through your
prayers I've felt more ups than downs. Sometimes Heavenly Father puts
us through hard things just for us to learn. Love you all!

Sincerely,
Elder Child

P.S. Just a shout out to my aunt JoAnn. I saw and read the article
that she wrote for the Liahona March issue to the primary kids. It was
a good article about prophets and how we can learn a lot from them.
Conference is next month and we all get a chance to hear a living
prophet give us guidance. I'm grateful for that every day of my life.
We live in the light and not the darkness of the world.

P.S.S Happy Birthday Alex. I wrote you an email so I hope you checked
it. Have an awesome year. You'll be able to turn in your mission
papers right after I get home next year in November.

P.S.S.S. Yes, I did hear about all the earthquake stuff in Japan. My
heart goes out to all the people that are suffering. I'm glad to know
that this life is not the end and we can see our families again
forever. We were not affected at all, so that should calm your hearts.

Crazy Short Letter

Hola Familia,
Sorry that this letter is so short this week but I didn't have much
time. We have to start writing longer letters to the president and my
spanish isn't that great so it took me a while. Anyways, just to let
you all know, the rain has pretty much stopped here so that's good.
That means that our roof has stopped leaking and our room is getting
drier. We had a bapism this week which was pretty sweet. Her name is
Stefani and she's 27. She has a boyfriend who is a member, so she was
more interested in the church. She was taking the lessons for like a
year before we met her, so pretty much we just needed to get her to go
to church and live some other commitments. She really does have a
testimony which is rare for a convert here at first.
The family that lives in San Antonio has been our focus lately. They
have really good kids and are ready for the gospel but they have
challenges. We are working hard to get them to church and to help the
dad stop drinking. We think we can baptize them this month, but they
have to attend church which is 25 minutes away, so it's going to be
difficult.
My health is looking up. I took the medicine that I needed last Sunday
and it seemed to help. I'm pretty much back to normal now.
Last night was a huge party for here in Peru. I don't even know what
it's called. I'm pretty sure it's thier Carnaval, so every Sunday they
have a party. It was pretty sweet in the afternoon becuase we ate
probably the best food I've had here on the mission. It's called
Pollada, and it's spice rub fried chicken. It was super good!
I'll probably be able to get you pictures by the end of the month,
just wait. Then you'll have like a thousand pictures to look at and
print out and stuff.
I don't know if the Liahona magazine here has the same articles as the
Ensign but there was one in this months issue that I really liked. It
was by President Packer. He talked about allowing less active members
and recent converts participate in church. He says that often times we
call on the Bishop, the Stake President, Relief Society President, and
other extremely faithful members to give prayers, talks, testimonies,
and answer questions in Sunday School. But really we need to give
these spiritual opportunities to those who need them to build their
testimonies. If you can get that article and read it I would
definately encourage you all to do so. Once again, sorry for the short
letter and all but just know that I'm fine and my comp is fine too. I
completed four months on the mission this past week, it doesn't even
seem that long ago I said goodbye to everyone in front of the MTC.
Thanks for all the prayers and thoughts. I really do love all of you.

Till Next Week,
Elder Child

Good News, Bad News

Querido Familia,
What's up everyone? Just another p-day here in the old mish. Everyday
is exciting and brings experiences that I'm trying to remember
forever, but sometimes it's hard to write well in my journal everyday.
But anyways, this week was pretty crazy when I look back on it. I was
thinking about some of the things I wanted to tell you all this week
and I was thinking that there was a lot of Good News, Bad News
situations. So that's why this email is entitled Good News Bad News.

This past P-day we got to actually play some fùtbol with our zone and
another zone. It was pretty fun even though I don't have a clue how to
play soccer, and don't even get me started on my technique, it's
horrible. But it was fun to run around a little bit and look like a
real fool for three hours. I have a few real soccer jerseys so it was
fun to actually play with one this week. The only thing was that it
was super tiring. When we got done I felt like I wanted to die.

So that was last monday. We had Family Home Evening that night too,
and it was cool becuase we had like thirty people there. It's awesome
to see all of the people we know and all the people that are noticing
our efforts in Characato. If only all of them would come to church and
let us teach them (eventually). So on to Tuesday. Tuesday was actually
kind of a bummer. I felt super weak and sick. It was probably because
I hadn't eaten anything for like three days and I was really sick last
Friday. So we called the mission nurse and I told her how bad I felt.
Eventually I was able to take a test and figure out what was wrong
with my body. Becuase the good news was that I was losing some major
weight and I'm looking pretty good, all of my comps say that :) The
bad news was that I was super sick and tired and felt like crap. Turns
out I had a parasite. So that was why I was so sick. But the good news
was that it is a very common parasite and they gave me medicine
Saturday and Yesterday and I feel a whole lot better today. I really
am doing fine, so don't worry about me, it was just for a while that I
wanted to die.

Some more good news was that the other Elders in our area were going
to have baptisms, the bad news was that all of their baptisms fell
through at the last moment. We were sad for them, but we are going to
have the baptisms a little later. More good news, Sixto (the Dad of
that family that we baptized) he said that he wants to come to church
every Sunday with us. The bad news was that he said he never has time
during the week to get baptized, so ya we were pretty sad.

I know it sounds like we have had a lot of bad news here, but I'm
super grateful for all of your prayers and the support from the Lord.
Even though we've had these set backs, I feel stronger and more able
to cope with these challenges and tests. I feel a whole lot better
this week about my mission. I was stressing out about the language and
how to teach people, but now I feel better. I still have a hard time
vocalizing all of my thoughts and I'm not completely sure what to say
in some situations, but with the help of my companion and my Father in
Heaven, I feel strengthened every day. I gave a talk in church
yesterday and actually was able to teach most of the sunday school in
the Gospel Principles book. My companion said to me after how much my
Spanish has grown and how much I can actually do now. I don't feel
like dead weight anymore. My comp is the best. He had some problems
with the rules in anther life earlier in his mission but now he is the
best. He is Elder Baptism. He knows how to talk to the people, gain
their confidence, and use the spirit to testify and motivate people to
act on their feelings. He really has taught me alot and has told me
several times that I'm his best companion. He said he wants to be with
me for another two transfers and I really do feel the same way.

This week we have a girl that hopefully is going to get baptized by
her boyfriend who is a member. She is really cool and has recieved a
testimony of all of the things we have taught her. So that's cool. But
I want to tell you all of a family that we know that lives about half
an hour away from us in a tiny town called San Antonio. This family is
a husband and wife (yes, they are actually married: that was the first
sign that told us they are going to get baptized) with three kids ages
11, 8, and 3. They are super humble and simple people. The husband's
name is Ronald and has been mostly out of work lately, so they feel
humbled. And the wife's name is Monica. Unfortunately she is suffering
from cancer (of the uterus I think, but I'm not sure). So they were
all super open to our message. And also because of the kindness and
example of her doctor who is a member. They hopefully will get
baptized this month as well and I'm super excited to teach them
everything. Ronald has always excepted us with open arms and Monica
opens up every time we talk to her. She was in the hospital a week ago
and we went and gave her a blessing (in, Spanish, it was really hard).
But she felt the spirit and immediately felt more peace and
tranquility afterward. It strengthens my testimony to see these people
that barely have enough food to eat every day that except the gospel.
It makes me think of the Savior who spent his ministry with the poor,
sick, afflicted, outcasts of society; the wierd people, the liars, and
thieves. He was with the downtrodden and those who wanted to change.
Are we better than the Savior? We need to be with these people too.

I love you all and really appreciate all of your support and prayers.
We are going to get food today, so its a good day.

Love,
Elder Child