Coronavirus has Arrived, 1 Month to Conference!

Hey everyone!

Sorry this email is going to be a little rushed. But also not a lot happened this week.

On Tuesday I went on divisions with our zone leader Elder Hintze from Davis. He is actually from the same ward as my cousins. It was fun to get away from the office and have a normal missionary day. After that these past few days we haven't had a ton of time to proselyte. After talking with our mission president it sounds like this will be my last transfer here in the office and then I will have my last two transfers be in the field. So the 30 of March I should have transfers! I haven't hated my time here. I am super grateful for the opportunities I have had to learn and grow. It's just a lot of stress. But i guess that never really ends in life.

Coronavirus has (unofficially) arrived to Huancayo with 4 or so people in the hospital who are sick after returning from Italy.

I am super excited for the upcoming conference. It is always good to have a two day weekend of listening to God's prophet and apostles. This conference is supposed to be like none other. So it's crazy to see how hard the devil is trying to distract us and stop this conference. Coronavirus, the month before conference, just happens to be spreading around the world and shutting off all public transportation and many public meetings due to containment efforts. I would just encourage you to focus on how God speaks to you personally and really focus on strengthening your ability to pray to God. If we're good with God, conference will be good with us. That i promise.

Also a quick shoutout to the Foothill 2nd Ward! I just got a Christmas letter from the ward and it was the best! There is no better ward on earth.

Sorry no photos, (yes I'm lame) but here is a cool photo of Christ and another one of Nephi praying

Submit to ALL things

Hey everyone!

Like the past few emails there isn't a whole lot to update on. Just trying to learn and grow everyday.

This past week our mission president got a little mad at us because we didn't have a space to study in our house. Every room we have has beds in it (we probably have about 25-mattresses in total). So this week we spent some time and cleared all the beds out of one of the rooms and made a study room. We cleaned it, put desks in and now it is probably the best study room in the mission. Our desks face giant windows that have a lot of natural light to help us not get sleepy and I bought a little febreeze thing that plugs into the wall. Gamechanger for sure. Haha now we have a clean open room that smells good to do our studies. And boy have I felt the difference. The spirit has been so much stronger in our studies and we have been feeling a lot better because of it. Wherever I live when i grow up I will make sure it has a cool study room with a big bookshelf full of books and a big spacious desk. Oh of course I cant forget to put a febreeze thingy in the wall to make it smell good as well haha.

Other than that, we have been trying to find more people in our area. With everything that goes on it is definitely hard to find success but we just need to keep going at it. There's no other option.

One testimony I grew this week is the power the scriptures have to help specifically with the problems we have. Normally every week I send our President a weekly report of all the missionaries who write their weekly letter to him and include the excuses of the ones who didn't write him. Well last week, with all of the movement for transfers, people going home, people entering and the leadership council, I didn't do it. Our president kind of got on me for not doing it and I told him that I didn't have time last week to do something as minuscule as that. He told me, "Well I expect you to make time for it." That kind of got to me and I was pretty frustrated. Well that same day I read Mosiah 3:19 which says:

"For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father."

That scripture hit me hard. I think God wanted me to read that scripture. I realized I need to be willing to do whatever God or my mission president sees fit to have me do. Maybe this week we can all work on this, on being more willing to submit to whatever trial, problem or errand God sees fit to give us. By doing so the atonement will be able to change us for the better and help us put off the natural man.

Love y'all have another good week!

Photos:

1. Investigators from Villa Rica showed up for a surprise visit! With Elder Cutler and Elder Nielsen from Logan

2. Hey dog how's the air tasting?

3. Morning pancakes for the boys

Put your trust in God and move forward with faith

Hey everyone!

I'm glad this week is over. It wasn't bad or anything, just lots of work and lots and lots of stress. But all is well. I love the quote by Gordon B. Hinkley that says, "It isn't as bad as you think it is. It all works out. Don't worry... If you do your best, it will all work out. Put your trust in God and move forward with faith."

This past week was transfers so you know what that means. I organize everything for the people going home, and also for the people arriving to the mission. Then on top of that were all of the transfers to call and organize the movement, and we also had a leadership council for all of the district leaders the day after transfers. Thursday was our first "normal" day back and it felt so good.

During all of the craziness I really felt God's help. I felt his hand on my back helping me to keep going. I don't know how it all worked out okay, but this is God's work and he isn't going to let us fail.

Then right as I thought it was all done, there have been a lot of emergency transfers in these last few days and some more flights home to keep things spicy.

This past week I have been reflecting on the atonement a lot. Tad Callister in his book the Infinite Atonement mentions how the atonement is the most fundamental doctrine we need to know but sadly it is the most misunderstood. Also Joseph Smith says that the atonement is the base of or church and all other teachings are just appendages unto it. I invite all of you to study more about the atonement and how we can apply it in our lives. A really good talk I just read was Believing Christ: A Practical Approach to the Atonement by Stephen E. Robinson. https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/stephen-e-robinson/believing-christ-practical-approach-atonement/. Anyways sorry got to go, but I love y'all and will talk to you next week!

Photos:

1. If you take my camera you get sent on the weekly ;) @Elder Orr and Elder Poll

2. How to survive calling transfers (phone calls from 4:30 until 11 at night)

3. sWeG

4. Rocoto Relleno. Round one went to Elder Corbett. Round two was revenged by the rocoto. Put your trust in God and move forward with faith.