Monday, June 18, 2012

Changes June 11th, 2012

Hey! Well this week was changes, and there wasn´t hardly any changes in our zone. Because of all the emergency changes a couple of weeks ago. I´m going to be staying with my companion one change more, I don´t know if he wanted to stay another change with me or leave but he´s a cool Elder. We´ve been working super hard with our investigadors and our area. It´s one of the more tougher areas in the zone, its super small and most of the houses have been contacted but were making a lot of good things happen. 

Were teaching Silvia Manai she´s 52 and has been investigading the church for a while now and her mom is a member. I think I talked a little bit about her the other week. We set a baptismal date for the 23rd of this month, and she says shes going to try and do her part. We had a lesson with her about 4 days ago when we put the baptismal date. She had been going to another church for a long time and was baptized like Jesus was baptized, she didn´t understand why she would need to be baptized again. We explained why we need to be baptized by someone that has the priesthood and that it´s not complete unless we recieve the holy ghost. She seems to have understood, but she says she needs more conviction and needs to accept Jesus Christ. Were trying to do a lot to help her. Include her in your prayers please!! 

Also we´ve been teaching this guy named Mikel from the US, he lives right by our apartment. We went to his house about a week ago and he gave us nachos and we talked for a while he doesn´t understand any spanish I felt bad for my companion because he couldn´t participate in the lesson. He´s a cool guys he´s like 6 foot 5 and has some sweet dreads ha, but this desire that he has to get closer to Christ is what draws my attention. I told him on Saturday night when we talked to him that I dont think it´s a coincedence that he´s able to hear the restored gospel from someone that speaks english. We talked a little bit about the atonement and how Jesus Christ knows all of our hard times, suffering, and sins. And how he can be cleansed of sin through the atoning sacrafice of Jesus Christ. 

I can say that I´ve learned more in this change with Elder Cabrera than in any of the changes I´ve had up until now. I know for sure that through Jesus Christ our weaknesses can become our strengths (2 Cor. 12:10) :D I´m hoping that we can keep working hard. I´m super stoked for this change and all the plans we have to help this ward the members and the people were teaching. Love you guys, by the way I got your package well I didn´t go pick it up yet but it´s here in Chiclayo! Love you!!!

-Christopher

Another week June 4th, 2012


Welp this week has gone by pretty quickly, haha this change we`ll be over this next week which is kind of weird. But I had a super good week with all the experiences and with my companion. We worked so hard this week I`m super tired haha, but I feel super good with our work and what were doing with our area. It`s super small but were trying to make things happen, we found 23 new investigadores this week so that was cool we were contacting like crazy whenever we didn`t have an appointment. But I`m trying to adjust a little bit with my new calling or assignment I guess it be since my calling is to be a missionary haha. The elders in my district are super sweet and cool, theres six of us. We had our first district meeting on tuesday last week, and it went good better than I thought it would I just did what I`ve seen all the other district leaders do. I`m trying to help the elders out with whatever they need. Two of the elders in the district and my companion are working really well, but one companionship hasn`t been doing so well. I don`t think they have a ton of desires to work really hard, that companionship just had  an emergency change today so we`ll see how that goes haha. There`s been a ton of problems in the zone this change but I think everything should be settling down for now, there was quite few companionships that didn`t want to work. I`m hoping to continue this change with Elder Cabrera he`s super cool and were working well together, I don`t want him to get changed and then have some elder come to this area that doesn`t want to work but who knows ha.
 
This week we had a cool experience I was talking to my companion in the morning on Wednesday while we were tracting, and I was talking a lot about how we don`t really have anyone that is progressing super well. I was feeling a little bummed out but we decided to buckle down and just work hard. We had various appointments during the day but we were knocking doors a lot to find new people to teach. And we had found a couple of different people that accepted us in their houses and it were feeling pretty good and at about 8:30 we were dead tired and we were going to go to the pension to eat dinner and we decided to knock a couple more doors. We knocked one door and we didn`t know who lived at this house but a member from the church (an older lady) opened the door and let us in and we talked to her for a while. We had been told from some members that this older lady`s daughter had been investigating the church for 5 years or so but wasn`t really sure about her testimony. We ended up talking to her daughter Silvia she`s about 45, and we got talking and she told us about how she had been investigating the church for a really long time and that she couldn`t accept that the church was true. But she told us on Wednesday that she felt that this is the true church, it was a cool experience and strengthened my testimony that there are people that the lord prepares and puts in our way. Her testimony was really strong about the church, my companion and I are super excited about Silvia. Also yesterday in church our convert Oscar got up and bore his testimony it was so awesome, I was super stoked and happy for Oscar and his progress.
 
Today we went to Eten a beach about 20 minutes from our area with our zone, it was super cool theres penguins and it was super tempting to not be able to get in the water. I got my hair and feet wet but it reminded me a ton of Hawaii. Thanks for sending me the pants and all of the stuff that you guys have sent me. Don`t worry too much to send me more things but if you guys insist i`ll receive a package :D haha. Love you guys!! Sorry I couldn`t really talk about what you guys are doing LOVE YOU GUYSSSS
 
-Christopher

Another week in Chiclayo, May 21st, 2012


 had a super good week and was able to learn a ton. We`ve been working a ton with the members, every has told me how this area is super dificult and they haven`t had baptisms for 7 months. But we`ve been working super good and had a lot of lessons with members this past week. But i`m most excited for the baptism that we have this week. His name is Oscar he`s 26 and we found him about two weeks ago, I think I told you about him last week. But we found him on a saturday night, and only talked to him for about 2 minutes and left him a pamphlet with the church`s address. He showed up to church last sunday and was super interested and told us that he read the whole pamphlet and prayed. We had a lesson with him and talked about the first lesson and he already knew a ton. On tuesday we set a baptismal date for the 26, and he was super excited about it. We´ve been visiting him throughout this week to help prepare him. And yesterdy was Stake Conference and we were going to swing by his house to go together but he left early and showed up alone. It was so awesome. He is super receptive and tells us every lesson that he knows that this is the Church of Christ and reads every chapter in the book of mormon that we leave him to read. He`s what you call someone that was completely prepared for this Gospel. I feel super good about him and that he`s been able to experience a true conversion to this restored gospel.
 
It`s been a little different this change with my companion because I have to make more of the decisions in what we are going to do and how were going to help the work in our area progress. I don`t really feel like I`m finishing training my companion because I think he already knows a lot and knows how to teach all the lessons. But i`ve been able to learn a ton this change it`s been super sweet. I feel super bad I don`t have more time to write you guys but tell ELI that I think that is awesome that he learned how to ride a two wheeler bike! That`s crazy that he`s that young and already knows how to ride a bike.
 
Sorry again I feel bad I had to write President and sometimes I feel like I don`t have enough time to write you guys. But I`ll talk to you next week :D
 
-Christopher