This Is Peru!

This Is Peru!

February 5, 2011

Last P-Day in this change!!?‏

December.

Wow. I cant believe that its already December! Goodness gracious. And
we have cambios (exchanges) this Monday, the 13th! I am basically done
with my first change, but unfortunately, we have had zero baptisms. :(
Its been kind of depressing. So, my comp and I decided that we would
fast for our investigators, and for our success. We fasted on Saturday
to Sunday. Not a whole lot has happened this week, so I'll be talking
mostly about our investigators. Okay, first off, we have Alex y
Julisa. They are a couple that are expecting a baby in about 4
months!....They're not married. So we have been really concerned about
getting them married to be able to be baptized. We got on our knees
and prayed (like we do everyday), and asked for guidance. During this
prayer, I could not get Joseph Smith out of my head. After the prayer,
I stayed on my knees and just thought. I came to the conclusion that
we needed to do something to strengthen her testimony of Joseph Smith.
So, we decided we would watch the Restoration! This is the new version
of the Joseph Smith movie that you can see in Temple Square. So we
watched the movie, it was awesome, and lo and behold, she hadn't
prayed to know if he truly was a prophet or not. I bore my
increasingly growing testimony for Joseph Smith, and we committed her
to pray. This was just last night, by the way. So, we have an
appointment again tonight at 7, and I'm expecting that she has
received an answer! Next we have Alejandro y Ruth. They just had their
baby on the 12th of November!.....They're not married either! This
seems to be somewhat of a problem here... CHASTITY! Jaja, so, yeah.
They're baby is adorable though. We also watched the same movie with
them and taught more about Joseph Smith and the works he did during
his life. They also don't know for a surety if he was a prophet or not.
So... we committed them and stressed how important it is for them to
pray! Next up is a new investigator!... maso menos. Jaja, his name is
Ronald, and he is 8 years old. His family, well, his mom at least, are
members, and attend a different chapel. But they are looking to move,
so they came to us and we have been teaching him so that he can be
baptized! We also have Magda, and her 2 daughters, Vitaliano, and
Carmen. But I don't have enough time to talk about all of them. So I
will talk about something that happened on Saturday. We were on our way
back to our room to grab our coats, because every evening after the
sun goes down, its FREEZES! I bought a jacket here, and its helped. I
don't know if I mentioned it, but I also had a lady make me a scarf!
Its pretty legit. Anyway, so we randomly stop, my comp says, hey, lets
knock this door. So, we do. Nothing. We knock the next door. Slammed
in the face. We cross the "street" and knock another door. We wait.
And an hermano opens the door. This is how the conversation went: "I
don't think you know who we are, do you?" Edward: "No, I know who you
are. You're Elders." Us: "You know who we are? How?" Edward: "2 years
ago I lived in Lima, and I talked with Elders a lot." Us: "You did?
You took the lessons and stuff?" Edward: "Yeah, I did. I even had a
date to be baptized, but we moved." Us: "Ohhh... No kidding?" SO
BASICALLY.... He has forgotten everything, has been trying to find a
church to join, and we knocked on his door. We came back on Sunday,
yesterday, and he was about to leave to attend another church; Luz
Verde. Translated: Green Light..... Huh? Apparently he has attended
before, and liked it. But we taught him the restoration and he ended
up staying home. (Yes!!) Jaja. So all in all, we have a goal to put a
baptismal date for these investigators for when?....the 25th of
December. That's right! Its a Saturday, and what better gift can they
give back to our Savior, rather than to follow his footsteps and be
baptized? Mom and Dad, I have never wanted anything more for
Christmas. I would give up anything for them to have the testimony
enough to be dressed in white, ready to be baptized. This is all I
want for Christmas. Its amazing being here, and having my whole
mindset change drastically. Every day I think about what we can do for
our investigators, to help them gain a testimony, and to just help
them in general. I love them SO MUCH! I just want them to be able to
receive this blessing. I have never prayed so hard for something
probably in my whole life. So we can use all the help we can get!
Please please please pray for them.

On a sadder note, I traveled to Juli for a division of companionship's,
and on our way back, my camera fell out of my pocket in the taxi. It
was never returned. :( I have never been so upset with myself. I am so
sorry, but its gone. I hate to ask for money, but I need a camera. I
have 200 or so soles, and a camera is around 600. So, I don't know what
to do. I will try to get permission to get on the Internet on another
day this week to see what you have decided to do. I will try to get on
either tomorrow or Wednesday. Once again, I'm so sorry. BUT, I am SO
grateful that I copied everything that was on my camera, and put it on
a DVD in the package for Christmas. Thank heavens. So the memory is
safe, its just the camera that's lost.

I don't have much time for a scripture of the week, but its found in
D&C 112:4-7. I love this scripture because I feel that it directly
applies to me and my mission. I mean hey, it even says "...thy path
lieth among the mountains..." But read it, because it is fantastic!!!

I love all of you so much, please forgive me for losing yet another
something that is so very valuable. :( I feel terrible. Thank you
Ethan for writing me! I loved to hear from you bud. :) Congratulations
on your first touchdown! I love that you love it so much! Good luck
with basketball. Bridger, I need a picture of you and this girl. ASAP,
ya??  Jaja. :)

Cuidase mucho familia. Los amos!

Elder Jordan Van Christensen

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