Be Humble, God's Hand is in the Work

Hey everyone!

This week was pretty normal. But that doesn't mean we didn't see any miracles or that nothing cool happened.

This week the schools here all had parades. So for a couple of them we went outside in the street and watched to cheer on the people we knew from those schools. They were pretty cool but no candy was thrown... haha I guess they don't do that here. But each class inside the school had a different theme with someone dressed up as that theme. It just happened that one of the classes was SpongeBob themed and we definitely went and took a picture with SpongeBob. It was really funny as I went up and asked to take a photo with SpongeBob, all of the girls in that class started screaming and freaking out. Later while talking with my companion, we think that it was a girl in the costume haha..... but what can you do?

This week we didn't teach as many lessons as we normally do, but we just visited with a lot of people. It is really sad here, because of some of the situations people are in. Most of the families we visit don't have a dad in the family. And so it's hard for the mom to work and still have time to raise the kids. So a lot of time we try to help them. But it's hard because my companion and I talk a lot about how these people we visit need attention and real love, but we can't give them the kind of love and attention they need. But we know that the gospel can give them the strength and blessings they need.

Also we went to a birthday party this week and it's super humbling to see the difference from birthdays here and birthdays in the states. The only present the girl got was a bag of Swedish fish that I gave her. But the people are so good here and give us so much.

And now for a spiritual experience we had this week, that happened as we passed by the house of one of the families we visit. The mom was there and she asked us what we thought about dreams. She told us that she had a dream and we were in it. In her dream she was walking in the street and passed by all of the churches. At every church people were outside worshiping idols. But when she passed by our church she saw us outside, but we weren't worshiping idols. She believes that this dream is a sign from God. Wow God is so great! But I get a little stressed in these situations because now it is in our hands to finish preparing this family for baptism. It's just a little scary to think what if we don't teach them good and throw away the opportunity God has put in their lives, but I know I shouldn't stress. I know God is always here to help if we ask for his help. I know God is here and helping us in this great missionary work!

Dog Count: 349, 8814 total

Photo 1: Birthday party!

Photos 2 & 3: Spongebob! Love the people in the background lol

Last photo: With the gospel we have the light to shine!

Amazing Grace

Hey everyone!

First off sorry about the photos from last weeks email. The internet was bad so I was only was able to upload a couple. But don't worry this email will be full of pictures 😉. I just don't know if you will be able to access all of them but fingers crossed.

Anyway this week went by super fast. Tuesday I went to a city called La Merced which out of the jungle area of my mission, is the most city like. It was super fun but it was a lot hotter than my area. My area isn't super hot because it is the mountainous part of the jungle. Anyways it was really cool, but the drive was bad. Due to heavy rain we received about 3 weeks ago, part of the road was completely gone. So we took a car to that point and from there we got out and walked about a block or two to the other side where we could then take another car. Also the road is so windy it makes Logan Canyon seem like a straight road haha. I took that drive Tuesday and Wednesday, and then we had our zone conference with the president of our mission Friday which was also in La Merced. I loved the city but I will be fine not taking that drive for a while.

But this week was Christ's last week on the earth and down here it is known as Semana Santa. It's celebrated a lot bigger here than in the states. The youth don't have school Thursday and Friday as that is the days when Christ performed the atonement and then died on the cross. Also on these two days the people here don't eat any red meat to honor Him. So basically everyone eats fish these days. It is really interesting to see how different cultures celebrate holidays in different ways.

Also this week we had a lot of spiritual experiences teaching the Book of Mormon. Lately I have been explaining the Book of Mormon with one photo. It is the photo of Christ visiting the Americas. This moment has a lot of power because if we come to know that Christ visited the Americas, or even if we want to believe that he visited America and places other than Jerusalem, then we will believe in the Book of Mormon and believe that Joseph Smith restored the true church. So my invitation to all of you would be to read 3 Nephi chapter 11 and then pray to God to know if that actually happened.

Sorry there weren't a lot of funny stories this week. Two different times contacting a girl asked me to take her to the states with me. But don't worry I didn't come on my mission to find a wife haha. But anyway this week our mission president gave us a really good talk on the grace of Jesus Christ. All of our sins have already been payed for. Our sins in 2025, 2032, every sin in the future has also already been payed for. The only thing we need to do is have a broken heart and repent of our sins. It's not like if we sin we need to do 30 pushups or run a mile to be forgiven. The atonement is infinite and Christ descended below it all. That means he descended below every single sin and with its infinite power, the atonement can heal all of us. Christ's hand is always reaching out for us, all we need to do is grab it, and accept that he can clean us. I know this church is true with all my heart and that Christ died for us, but he also was resurrected or in other words lived again for us so we can have hope in our lives. Please grab his reached out hand ;)

Dog Count 🐕: 247 for week, 8465 total

Photos are of the water falls from a couple weeks ago and then photos with my friends from the zone conference!

Waterfalls and mosquito bites

Hey everyone! This week started off amazing because on p-day we went looking for some waterfalls. Luckily we had one of our friends named Tony who is from here that went with us. It didn't really seem like there was a trail we were more bushwhacking. That doesn't sound like too bad of an idea, until I tell you that I went in shorts and without bug spray. There were a lot of interesting spiders a long the way but they didn't bother me. I only obtained a mere 26 mosquito bites haha but it was worth the views we got.

Then after playing hard Monday we went out and worked hard throughout the week. But sadly at one of the appointments there were a bunch of little kids that I was playing with and one of them was sick. Then I just happened to wake up sick in the morning. I feel fine now but one night I slept with my sleeping bag, a long sleeve shirt, and a sweater on haha and its not like I'm in a cold area or anything.

But we still had a really good week and found some families who could really use the gospel. One family was super nice to us and invited us over to eat Pachamanca. What they do is dig a hole in the ground and then put potatoes or yuca on the floor. Later they put white hot rocks on top and then on top of the rocks they put meat. After the meat they put more rocks and then cover it with dirt. An hour our two later they take it all out and it is so so good.

Another family we met has a son who is 17 and is living alone with his girlfriend who is 16. Also lots of drugs and alcohol go on... But they are really nice people. Its just a sad culture here because there is no university in my town so all of the good people move away to go to a university and only the bad ones stay and influence the younger people. We are always meeting people who have kids at 15, 16, or 17 years old. But that's why we serve missions to bring the blessings of the gospel into other peoples lives.

I know this gospel brings a purer joy than any other thing in this world can. This week is Easter week and I hope that all of us can show God that we are grateful for what his son Christ did for us. We will never understand the pain he went through for us so that like Him, we can live again after death. Please share this message of hope with someone you know that might be feeling a little hopeless!

Dog Count: 210, total 8218

waterfall #1, the Batcave, the descent to waterfall #3

Miracles with jokes along the way

Hey everyone!!

Wow it is so awesome down here in Villa Rica. This week was full of miracles from God and funny side moments.

I won't waste too much of your time, but one morning we went looking for a house that asked us to visit them. They weren't home so we started contacting the neighboring houses, and at one house my companion went up to the lady outside and asked her how she was doing. She told us she was cooking for lunch and jokingly my comp asked her what she was cooking for us. Then to our surprise she invited us to come back and eat lunch with her family. We went back to discover some people we had contacted a different day that were interested but couldn't explain where they lived... or maybe didn't want to tell us haha. But we found them and Tuesday we are having a family home evening at their house which is a family of 15! The funny story to go with this miracle of God is that the family consists of the grandparents, their kids, and their kids´ kids. One of the moms was calling her sister to tell her about the family home evening, and she told her sister that a gringo/white stripper would be there... maybe they didn't understand what missionaries are. Haha She was joking when she said it, but still it is a little uncomfortable.

Another funny story happened during priesthood conference Saturday night. I kept feeling an itch on my body and I didn't think anything of it until it wouldn't go away. About an hour into the conference I smacked my leg and felt something. I then freaked out until a big beetle fell out of my pant leg. So it was definitely crawling all over me for at least an hour, and I still don't know how it got inside my clothes. But what can you do haha. There are a lot of weird bugs here, but it is so worth being here. It is so pretty and green.

This past weekend we got the opportunity to listen to living prophets and apostles. With this I just want to share a quick spiritual thought with y'all. The two big patterns I saw were about how in these last days we will only survive the attacks of the devil if our family is strong and centered on the rock of the gospel. The other pattern was the atonement and repentance. And then something the prophet said really shook me and I'm still thinking about it. The prophet said that satan is quadrupling his efforts. The prophet didn't say doubling, nor tripling, but quadrupling. That means the world is going to get really whack. The only way we will be able to withstand these quadrupled efforts is through the help of our families and if we rely on the atonement of Christ to both strengthen us against temptation, and clean us when we do sin. If not our lives will get wrecked haha, so please listen to the counsel we received so we can hold on and persevere in the goodness of the gospel. Anyway with this, have a good week!!! LOVE Y'ALL

🐕Count: 306 for week, 8008 total

Photos: looking out at all the green, just letting some fish eat my dead skin, and we found a doll crucified at a house we contacted and in the corner you can see a spider nailed to the house also...

La Selva!!! (The Jungle)

Hey what is up everyone!

Sorry that I didn't email last week. I was traveling all day for transfers. I found out that I was going to the jungle! And what a drive! So first I went to from Huanuco to Cerro de Pasco which was 4 hours and went smoothly. Cerro de Pasco is at about 17,000 feet elevation. I waited there for a little while and it's crazy how elevation changes the climate so much. It felt like I went from Logan summer to Logan winter. After that I traveled alone to a place called Tarma and then took a different car to La Merced. That drive was crazy because we switch backed down the mountain from 10,000 feet to about 2,000 feet elevation. The speed limit was 35km but we were definitely going 110km haha it was crazy, but I counted 22 waterfalls on the drive and some of them were giant.

But in the end, I did make it safely to my new area. It is called Villa Rica and a fun fact, is that it is home to the world's best coffee. Literally everything here is coffee themed. The park has a statue of a dude carrying a giant coffee bean. There are little coffee beans designed into sidewalks, and I heard about 75 percent of all work here has to do with coffee. So we will have lots of work to do with the word of wisdom haha.

But it is so beautiful in this town since everything is green and there are lots of bugs which is good since you see some cool butterflies, but also bad because of things like mosquitos. Also it rains a lot here. One storm came out of nowhere and destroyed all of the roads and bridges around us so we were isolated. That led to prices on food rising but most of the roads are fixed now so we are all good. Haha I guess that's why its called the Amazon RAIN Forest.

This week was a lot of work which is good and my new comp Elder Canquilla from La Paz Bolivia loves to work so it's going to be a great transfer! This Sunday only about 40 people were at church and as church started I found out I had to give a talk. I guess the missionaries talk a lot in this ward so I will get lots of practice. In my talk I shared the story of Nephi in the book of Helaman when he is preaching to everyone but no one listens, so he prays for a famine which kills a ton of people until they remember God and repent. So my message for you all is to please listen to conference this next week! It only happens two times a year! And then please act on the words of the prophet so you wont have to experience spiritual famines. The prophet is here to guide us in the last days!!!!!

Dog Count: 7702

Photos: Goodbye to Huánuco

Night view of Villa Rica

Dope ice cream cake I made for a ward activity

Photos of the activity

Photos of a mission conference before my transfer