New Guys in Characato

Hey Family,

This week was actually pretty event filled and crazy. There was a lot
that happened by way of worldly things, and unfortunately not a ton of
experiences with investigators. I'll try to explain why. I was glad to
hear from all of you. It sounds like everything is going
really good and you all are busy with work and school. I had to write
Elder Lund in Brazil becuase it's his birthday today. I can't wait to
get back and share stories and experiences from the mission with all
my friends. This week I've realized that I have a good grasp of the
language.

So, Monday was interesting becuase I was finally able to get my
package that you sent men in Febuary. It only took like three hours
waiting with all the other Gringo missionaries to get our packages
from home. But, when I finally got my package I was elated to find
CD's, Journals, and pictures of my really wierd family. Oh, and the
food was pretty nice too. Thanks for everything, I know it's a little
expensive to send stuff from the states but it meant a lot to me just
to see your pictures and to see your notes.

Tuesday was really, really, really, exciting becuase we finally found
a pension. It is one of the member's moms. She is so cool. She has
been cooking us lunch and dinner all this week. She is going to feed
us for all of this transfer, and maybe more if we're here for longer.
Her name is Danizta and she's like our mom. She is really outgoing and
talkative and upfront with people. She really reminds me of my mom,
always looking out for our health and worrying for us. And her food is
amazing. I really like her cooking.

Friday morning was really an experience too. That's becuase we got two
new missionaries here in Characato. Thursday night the Assistants
called us and told us that we were going to get two more missionaries
for our area. I didn't believe it, but it really happened. Two Gringos
arrived Friday morning and we had to move them in. One of the Gringos,
Elder Davey, is from San Francisco and has been out for eight months.
The other is a brand new missionary, Elder Johnson. He's from
Cottonwood Heights and went to Skyline. He's super new and is learning
the language. These past three days is when I've really noticed that I
understand and can speak spanish. When I see somebody who knows very
little, I can see my own progress. It's not good to compare yourself
with other people, but in this case it was a real confidence booster
for me and I felt better about my work in the mission. Now we have six
people in the same house, with a tiny kitchen, and one bathroom. I was
excited to get more help in our area, but then I remembered the shower
situation. Its a challenge, but I'll get stronger in some way by this
trial.

The weather here is slowly turning to cold. There was a couple of days
when it got really chilly at night. It's wierd becuase it's pretty hot
in the mornings, then right when the sun goes down, it gets cold. It's
a good change from being just hot all the time.

My companion's family is reading my blog in Huanucò, Peru, so I
thought I would send them a shout out. My companion, Elder Usseglio is
the best. He teaches with such love for the people. I've really
learned how to come out of my shell and connect with the culture. I
really do love Peruvians. But, my comp suffered a little bit of
sickness this week. He's been having stomach problems as you all know,
and it got worse this week. So we went to the doctor's office on
Friday and they scheduled an operation the next day. It's where they
put the camera into your stomach to see what's going on, I'm not sure
what's called in English. But that night he had to have an IV for four
hours. I was bored out of my mind, but I did bring Jesus the Christ to
read. I really fell in love with the stories of Christ's ministry here
on the earth. I really learned a lot about how to teach with simple
metaphors and to ask the right questions. I've also learned some more
gospel principles that James Talmage explains well.

After that IV, the next day we went for the camera tube thing, they
didn't find anything really harmful. He just has some serious acid
reflux and some stomach irritation. They did a biopsy to see if
there's anything else. Hopefully it comes out all clean and he can get
feeling better. But pretty much that was all we did on Saturday.

Sunday was a nice rest. We didn't have church and we couldn't leave
the apartment to proselyte because it was the presidencial elections
yesterday. It was nice to be able to sleep in and just read. The
elections were pretty crazy. In Peru, you have to win at least 50% of
the votes to be the president. But, there were like 8 people running,
so the highest percentage was like 28%. So that means that the two
highest candidates run again for another vote in June. Which means we
get another day off in June, I'm excited.

I got the papers for two more packages. I'm going to pick them up next
week, so thanks in advance for all the stuff.

The church is true, don't ever leave it. I've felt the spirit in my
studies of the life of Christ. I'm really excited to get the General
Conference Edition of the Ensign.

Until next week.

Love

Elder Child

General Conference

Hola Familia,

How goes everything in the land of the free and the home of the brave?
Obviously this week was conference and I was super excited to hear
from all of the general authorities. This week went by pretty fast
becuase we got those two days off, but all is well. I sincerely wish I
could watch conference every single day. I ask about the U.S. just
because seeing the images of my home town made me trunky. We all saw
the snow on Sunday Morning and asked "What's up with that?" I guess
you are all getting blessed with more moisture this year. I kind of
jumped the gun on talking about this week, but really, nothing too
exciting happened before conference. Some stuff did happen though and
I'll try to fill you all in on what's up with Characato.

So, on Tuesday, we found a young couple that just had a baby. Santos
and Erika live by the church and we've known them for awhile but
haven't been able to teach them. They just had a baby girl about three
weeks ago. They are pretty young, like 23 and 24 years old. On Tuesday
we were able to teach them about the Restoration and the Book of
Mormon. We answered a lot of their questions about why there are so
many churches and bibles and things like that. Then Santos prayed and
he felt that all we were teaching was true. They are so special and
loving and really will accept the gospel. They want to get baptized
the 23rd of April. The only problem is that they aren't married. So
that just means that we have to marry them first before we baptize
them. Another problem is that Santos didn't have an ID becuase his
Birth Certificate was messed up. So we had to figure out how we're
going to fix that. Our prayers were answered through another
investigator who could help us with that. They are super cool becuase
they actually read the scriptures (which is rare) and they came to
conference. We truly are blessed to know them.

Thursday I finally got the paper that says I can go pick up that
package that was sent over a month ago. The package arrived on the
20th of Feburary and the paper was delivered to the misssion office on
the 25th of Feburary but they didn't get it to me for another month. I
was a little mad at that, but hey at least I have it now. After I
write you all I'm going to go pick it up, I'm so excited.

Eventually, Saturday came, General conference. We got to the Stake
Center and found out that nothing was set up, so that kind of worried
us, but eventually, they got the tvs and projectors out. I was able to
watch all of conference in English which was an absolute blessing. All
of the Gringos were ecstatic to hear that. As you all know, we are
working very hard here in Arequipa for a Temple becuase they are so
close to get one. So we were all on the edges of our seats to hear the
new temples. We were just a little bit disappointed to hear that
Arequipa isn't ready for a temple yet, but my heart is filled with joy
to hear that we will have more than 150 temples on the earth in the
near future. We were also glad to hear that there are more than 50,000
full time missionaries in the world today. The gospel really is being
spread to all the ends of the earth. This is the Lord's work and
really will go on despite hardships and worldly events.

This year marked the 75th anniversary of the Church Welfare Program
and I was glad to hear all the messages of service in our church. You
all know what went on in conference so I'm not going to recap or
anything, but I really enjoyed the preisthood session and Elders
Scott, Holland, and President Monson's talks. We were all a little
worried because of all the pressure being put on us as missionaries to
get married. It was pretty funny to hear all of the messages of
marriage and love and committment. But it really did focus my
priorities for my plans after the mission. It made me think, why am I
really here? I only have one opportunity to get married and have a
family on this earth, I have eternity to experience other things and
learn other worthy but less important things. I along with Elder
Holland want to say I Love You President Monson. I have so much
respect and love for the president of Christ's church here on the
earth. I also learned that we need to sustain him with all of our
hearts, minds, and actions. If he says to go to the temple more, you
do it. If he says to get married in the temple, you do it. If he says
to pay tithing and serve in the church, and go home teaching, and have
Family Home Evening, you do it. The Lord will bless us for obedience
even if it looks difficult at first.

Conference really was a wonderful experience that I will cherish
forever. I am excited to read the Conference Report next month in the
Liahona. But where ever there is good, there is also some bad too.
After conference, and after we were done working for the day, we came
back to the house at about 9 o'clock. Something sad happened in our
house. Some kids broke into our house and took some of our things. The
only thing missing from my things was my camera and a watch. Luckily
the week before, I took out the memory chip from my camera so I still
have all of my pictures. It was sad to see this happen but then I
applied the principles from conference. Forgiveness from Elder Packer
and the example of cheerfullness, faith, and optomism from President
Monson. Really, they were just things that were taken, so it's not
that bad, but it still doesn't feel good. Everybody is okay I don't
want you to worry at all. I just want you to know that I'm probably
going to buy another camera this week so don't freak out if there's
some money being withdrawn from my account.

Well, time is short so I just have to say that I love each of you and
appreciate your prayers. Hopefully we can do more than just listen to
conference but also apply it's teachings. Till next week.

Elder Child,

P.S. I'm happy to be a missionary and to learn from all of my experiences. It's just a short time, and I'll be home soon. I have five months here and one day, can you believe it?