Week 40 - Viru

This week was a very great week. Being a missionary is a very rewarding experience. This week on friday I had a companion exchange with a few elders in the district. I was with Elder Ortiz for one day and it was a really fun day. He is a very powerful elder from Ecuador. We had a few set visits for the afternoon and just about every single one of them fell through. That was really frustrating, but I decided that we would start walking back to the area where our house is. In the path I decided to go visit an investigator that we hadent visited in a while. We arived at her house and she opened up the door a little bit, then finally let us in to visit her. As we visited with her she told us that she had been worried that we had forgotten about her, and that she had planned on going to church this sunday to get in contact with us. She is like 60 years old and her kids live far away. She told us that she just wants her family to all be together, so we talked with her a little bit about how the gospel blesses familiies and it was a great lesson. Every single week I am seeing really how much the lord is preparing people to accept His Gospel.

We are also visiting another family of investigators that came to church for the first time yesterday. They had a great experience and enjoyed the combined class during third hour about fasting. The enjoyed it so much that they decided to fast the rest of the day to see if fasting was even something that they could do. When we visited them last night and told they told us that I had to laugh a little bit. That is so awesome. The Spirit that you can feel in the church is real and really helps insipire us to act. 

Last night we also had a lesson with a few members in order to encourage them to share The Famliy Proclamation with a friend or relative. The members here are so awesome. I really enjoy visiting with them and listening to their thoughts and hearing how the gospel has blessed them in their lives. 

I know that the Gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored. I know that when we are obedient we are blessed spiritually as well as temporally. I also know that the Lord is always preparing people to accept his plan.

 

Week 39 - Viru (summary)

This last week was another great week in Viru. It is starting to cool down here a little bit which is really nice. It still gets super hot during the afternoon, but the nights are quite a bit cooler. I actually sleep with a blanket these days. The work is going well here. My companion Elder Cruz is learning really fast and doing very well during his first weeks here in the mission. It is cool to be able to learn with him. I have realized that as we have practiced the basics more I have become a better teacher of the gospel. We have started to work with a few different families that are part member families and I really enjoy working with them. It is really cool to see the desires these people have to have their whole family in the church. As a mission we are really focusing on working with the part member families, and I have realized that the lord really prepares these families. This monday we went and visited a sister who is a less active and she told us that she and her husband who is also a less active almost went to church this last sunday, but didnt quite make it for a few reasons. It is really cool to see how the spirit works in these people to prepare them to accept or return to this gospel. The gospel is not for perfect people. It really is for people who are striving to become better, and sometimes satan discourages people and convinces them to stop trying. I find strength and I know others can find strength in the atonement of our Savior.

This last week I got to go to a little training in Trujillo for district leaders, and that was awesome. I got to learn a lot about how we can do our responsiblities better. President Rios always teaches from the scriptures and I really enjoy learning from him. We also got to eat papa johns pizza for lunch, so that was definitely a treat. 

Today we went to the temple and that was super awesome as usual. It is always a faith building experience and I always learn something new everytime I go. I really enjoy having a temple so close to us here in the mission. The temple here has the coolest paintings. 

I know that this work is so important and that the gosple blesses families and people who try to improve and do what is right. I know that The Gospel of Jesus Christ is a sure foundation. 

Week 39 - Viru

This is what I got this morning:
I love that it is Spanish and he politely translated it for me....and you.  :-)

 

Hola mama, esta semana voy a ir al templo con mi zona por eso no podre escribir el lunes 23 sino

que lo haré el día Miercoles 25.

Les amo mucho, hasta el miércoles.

 

Hi Mom, This week i´ll go with my Zone to the temple, for that reason, I won’t write this Monday

the 23rd, but, Wednesday the 25th.

Love you

Week 38 - Viru

My first week training was a great week! I am definitely learning a lot and developing a lot of patience. My companion is Elder Cruz. He is from Texas and he is a very humble missionary. He has a really good attitude as well. We are going to have success together.

This week on Tuesday I went to Trujillo to be trained a little bit to be a trainer then we all met the new missionaries and went back to our areas. It was a very fun day. Presidente Rios is such a good teacher. He talked to us a little bit to help prepare us.

This week was a great week in the work in our area. Monica and Manuel are doing very well and this week was actually Monica's Birthday. Manuel baked her a cake and everything for her birthday. It is really cool to see how the gospel has made their family so much stronger. 

Yesterday we had a great Sunday here in Viru. It was branch council and the speakers gave great talks, and on top of that we had a great church attendance. It brought me a lot of happiness to see the church so full. I just hope we can keep it a regular thing. 

Yesterday the District Presidency and President Mendez(first councilor of President Rios) went around and visited a few families. We actually ran into them during the afternoon yesterday and they had just visited with Hermano Jesus. Hermano Jesus is the guy that we painted a house with a while ago and was really progressing, and we haven't visited him in a while because he didn't really want the church anymore. Well anyway they visited with him and talked to him about his doubts and he now has changed his mind and wants to listen again. We visited him yesterday and he actually shared his testimony in the end of the lesson. It was so awesome. His wife who was baptized 6 months ago started to tear up a little bit. It was a really cool miracle that we got to see this week.

I know that this gospel really is the path to have happiness in this life and for forever. I am very grateful for the opportunity that I have to be a missionary and to be able to learn and grow. I definitely have many weaknesses but little by little they are becoming stronger.

 

funfact...in the mission your trainer is called your dad. here is a picture of Elder Maldonado(my brother) Elder Sanchez(my dad) myself and the missionary that I am training Elder Cruz. We took this picture this last Tuesday by the office of the mission.

 

Week 37 - Viru

This was another great week in the mission. I just want to start off by saying that I love being a missionary. It is such an amazing experience. I feel so blessed to have been given this opportunity.

This week was a great week in the work. We worked a lot with Monica and Manuel this whole week and they had a hard time deciding if they wanted to be baptized this saturday. They did finally make up their minds this last friday and told us that they felt ready to go for it, so Elder Herget and I along with the Ortiz Family and a few members put together a little program and the whole thing worked out really well. They got married Saturday morning. Then they had a really awesome baptism and it was a very cool spiritual experience. It was so cool to hear their testimonies after their baptisms. They both testified of Christ and it was cool to see that they really have developed a testimony of Him. As I look back on our time working with Monica and Manuel I see that as missionaries we didnt convert them really.(to be honest I dont really feel like Im the best teacher of the gospel) but we helped them to have their own spiritual experiences, and thats what has helped them to develope their own testimonies. I believe that the Lord put us in this place at this time and helped make us instruments in his hands. I feel so blessed that he has given my companion and I the opportunity to be here at this time. I hope that I can continue to help this family the best I can. It has been so awesome to see their progress. 

Yesterday we had transfer calls and it was a bittersweet night. Elder Herget is going to Chimbote and i am staying here in our area Las Flores. It has been such a blessing to serve and learn with Elder Herget. He is a great missionary and really loves all of the people here. I am going to be training a new missionary here, so I am really excited for that opportunity! 

I know that Heavenly Father loves us and that he puts us where we need to be so that we can help him and be successful. I am so grateful for this gospel and for the opportunity to share it with the families here. 

 

 

Baptism

by the way I am not the reason that the kid next to me has a baindaid on his head hahah

Week 36 - Viru

Wow this was quite the week. We were super busy pretty much all week which was great. The week really flew by! Monica and Manuel are still progressing and we are still helping them out a lot. They are very awesome and this week they had a few problems, but have been able to overcome them and it has been so cool to see. They always fall back on their spiritual experiences they have had this past month. They got in an arguement this week and things were kind of rough for a day, but yesterday we talked to them and they told us that they are better now and they are kind of nervous to get married(which is normal i think). They told us that they have been thinking a lot about their experience when they prayed together as a couple and felt that it was the right thing to do. I really love working with this family and we have gotten to laugh quite a bit with them as well. They have two little kids that are really funny. Their little daughter got a hold of a marker yesterday and basically wrote all over herself. It was quite the look.

This week we also visited an old investigator that we stopped visiting because he always had excuses for why he couldnt read or go to church. His name is Cosme. He is super nice and he cracked me up this week. When we went back to his house he and his wife told us that they had been missing us and gave us some pop and we visited for a while. We invited them to church and he came to church yesterday!!! It was so awesome. At the end of testimony meeting he told me that he wants to share his testimony someday....so we will see what happens these next few weeks. 

Our Branch President is really awesome as well. His name is President Rey. I think i sent a photo with him the other day. He is really humble and always helps us a ton. yesterday we had a little meeting with him about our branch and we set some goals to improve. He is always willing to help us and I have really enjoyed getting to work with him a little bit. 

I really love being a missionary and working with the people here. It is not easy at all, but it is definitely rewarding. I am so grateful for this opportunity. I know that our Savior lives and that he loves us and supports us.  

We moved houses this week and got a new pensionista that is closer to our new house so we had our last meal with our old pensionista this week. The family Diaz is so awesome. as you can see....