Por fin estan progresando!

Wow the mountains look so green in the pictures that you sent me, the wild flowers look really cool too. That picture of the family is awesome, everyone looks about the same except for Ava ha. My mission already e-mailed my arrival date? That´s a weird feeling, a lot of the elders from my group are going home early like Elder Sampson goes home the 29th of this month. I´m glad I didn´t shorten my mission, I´m learning so much still everyday here. Dad thanks for getting all my school stuff squared away, it´s the best knowing that I don´t have to come home early to study and that you already signed me up for classes. What classes we´re you able to sign me up for? I´d be excited to make a trip down to Moab and do some mountain biking, hopefully I´ll have a little bit of time to do that. 

So this week went well, my companion had his birthday on Tuesday and the members threw him a surprise birthday party. The members here are really cool and love the missionaries. Then on Wednesday we had exchanges in the zone and all the elders were with other elders that aren´t their companions. I was in an area in the zone named Latina, it´s a tougher area because the people there are wealthy and the elders there have to work with members. It was nice to get out and preach in a different area for a change but I like my area a lot. In the interchange they set a baptismal date for August 4th for Rosa, she went to church yesterday and is progressing. Her husband is inactive but he also went to church with her on Sunday. 

Our investigadors are finally going to church, and we had a breakthrough with Hermana Gladys. We´ve been teaching Gladys for quite a long time now but she never commited herself to going to church. We had a lesson with her on Thursday and taught her about the sabbath day, she finally understood how important it is to keep the sabbath day and at the end of the lesson in her prayer she promised God that she was going to go to church. On sunday she made a lot of friends really fast and one of the members in our ward is a friend of hers that she knew before. We´re also trying to help this one hermana get married, she wants to get baptised and her daughter is a recent convert. Her birth certificate is in Chota and to get married she has to have her birth certificate we called the elders that are in Chota and they´re sending us her birth certificate. 

Me and my companion are good, I´m learning a ton from Elder Harris and he learns really quick everything. He´s helping me a lot to stay focused on the missionary work. Today was cool because I ran into Elder Cometivos in Chiclayo, it was cool seeing him he was one of my favorite companions we worked a ton in our area and had a lot of success.

Oh by the way your letters got to me! Thanks for sending me them, it always helps to get a letter from you guys. I´m sending pictures of the suprise birthday party we threw for my companion and also a picture of lunch that we had today with the zone. I hope you guys have a good week! Love you! 

-Elder Connelly

Happy Birthday ELI 7/15/13

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ELI I wish I could have been there to wish you a happy birthday but I guess I´ll have to do it through my email to you guys HAPPY BIRTHDAY ELI!! From the pictures you sent me looks like you guys had a good time with the cake and everything :) I´m not going to lie all the pictures you guys send make me miss the mountains and green. I´m glad you were able to go and see Kash it´s weird to think that he´s already back from his mission. If some of my friends want to be there in the airport when I get back it´s fine by me. 

This week was good, I´m learning a lot from my companion and from the experiences we are having here in our area. I feel really blessed because my companion is obedient and likes to work hard and that´s what we need to be successful as missionaries. Especially right now it´s helping me because i´m getting close to finishing. God has given me companions that i´ve needed to be able to learn and progress, I was able to think a lot this week about the mission and the things i´ve learned and it´s the best being a missionary. I´m especially liking our area because of all the member help that we get, we pretty much work through members and nothing else. 

We´re still teaching José and Jesús, and they making a lot of progress. José relapsed saturday night and drank with some of his buddie, it was really discouraging for me. We´ve worked so much with him and seeing him drunk bummed me out, things like that happen he ended up making it to church on sunday so it´s okay. I´ve defintely seen a big change since we fasted with José, I´m certain that before the end of this next transfer we´re going to get them married and baptised. They´re so close to doing it, we watched the Restoration with them this week and asked them if they believed Joseph Smith was a prophet and they believe our whole mesage and everything. On thursday we´re going to go with the ward and have a family home evening in their house, pray for José and Jesús please!! We´re also teaching a man named José Agip he´s not a member his wife is but he hasn´t been baptised for some problems in the ward. He had an accident about a month ago when he was driving his three wheeler with a trailer and cut his achilles tendon and messed his foot up pretty bad. He´s become really humble and has been listening to us this past week. Pray for him too! Other than what´s going on with our investigadors nothing really that crazy has happened this week. I´m happy and healthy and enjoying the mission. 

This week on Sunday we got to give talks which is always the best, I´ve gotten to really like giving talks. Today we went and played soccer, that´s pretty much the Monday routine now we always play soccer. Thanks for the letters that you sent with the drawing from Joel, Evan, Eli and Eva. Love you guys and i´ll talk to you next week!

-Elder Connelly

ps I sent two picture one is of the ceviche that our pensionista gave us for lunch and the other is of the money we took out of the bank the beginning of this month.

New Companion 7/9/13

My companion left on Wednesday and now I´m with Elder Harris, it was a bummer because I learned a lot from Elder Cometivos but I´m excited about a new companion. He´s from Nevada and was serving his mission in California for 6 months waiting for his visa. We get along really well and he´s really going to help me a lot I think. It´s different because I´ve never had an american companion but I´m getting used to it. 

This week went well we´re teaching a lot of really great people but the problem that we have right now is that no one wants to come to church...but we did have a breakthrough with one of our investigadors. We´ve been teaching the Segura family for quite a long time and we´ve thought about giving them some time so we can look for new investigadors that will progress faster. This week José told us that he wanted to fast with us, so on Saturday after lunch we went to his house and started a fast with him. I´ve never fasted before  in my mission with one of my investigadors, but it seems to have really helped. He came to church on Sunday with his wife Jesús and they seemed to have liked the church meetings. The problem with them is that José doesn´t want to get married yet with Jesús because he wants her to change, she has kind of a in your face personality and he is more passive. They already have two kids and it doesn´t really make sense that they don´t get married but we´re working with them right now. 

So teaching has been a little different with my companion because he´s still learning spanish but he´s picking up really fast spanish and we teach well together. I sometimes don´t have very much patience but I´m learning a lot right now, my companion is really obedient and humble and he´s teaching me a ton. I´ve been lucky to have had companions that have wanted to work and keep the rules. 

I don´t really have much to write about this week but I´m enjoying the mission I´m happy healthy and tired like always haha. I´m sending a picture of me because here in Ferreñafe there´s a lot of walls that have poetry here and so I decided to take a picture of this haha. Love you guys talk to you next week.

-Elder Connelly

Another Week 6/24/13

It`s funny hearing about cub country, some of the greatest memories I have are from cub country with all my friends and the Corner Canyon 2nd ward. That`s cool that that man was able to help you out with the cooler, sometime the Lord is there to help us out when we least expect it. I was able to read a little bit more about what happened to Dan with more details, I`m glad he`s doing well and recovering from the accident.

 

This week we baptised Olga Sanchez! It was awesome, another one of God`s chosen children was able to join the church. I think I already wrote about her  but she`s about 72 years old, and one of the members in our ward gave us the referral. We starting teaching her about  a month and a half ago and she progressed quicly and now she`s a member of the church! The baptism service went well, our ward mission leader baptised her. She couldn`t bend her back at all to get submirged so we had to use a chair so that she could get baptised without causing any damage to her back. After the baptism she shared some of her feelings about her baptism and said that she couldn`t have been more happy. She already has a lot of friends in the ward and visiting teachers so she should stay active.

 

Now we just going to try and find new investigadors, we`ve got two prospects but they didn`t go to church yesterday so they aren`t progressing...On Sunday there was a missionary work training that got transmitted to our stake in Chiclayo, it was an inspiring training. The prophet talked and some of the apostles, it pumped me and my companion up to work more with the members in our ward. I liked a lot this quote that "the most effective missionaries act by love" the also said that "good leaders act by love", it`s so crazy there`s  70, 000 missionaries serving full time.

 

Other than that the mission life is going good, I`m enjoying a ton my area and finally it`s getting a little colder at night and sometimes I have to use a sheet when I sleep.  We played soccer today like we did two weeks ago at a synthetic soccer field here in Ferreñafe. The whole district came and we played with all the elders and some members as well. I`m doing good, my companion is still waiting for his Visa so I don`t know how long I`m going to be with him. Thanks for the letter and the pictures, Bryce looks like he`s really tall now...luckily I`m huge and can still take him haha. Love you guys! Until next week...

 

-Elder Connelly

Matrimonio y bautismos!!

Thanks for the letter, and for the pictures :) I heard about the baby`s new name, it`s Leah right? That`s a cool name I like it a lot, you could have named her Daisy Rose though hahaha. Crazy that Dad is working half time now, what a blessing for the family no? Obedience brings blessing. 

So things are going really well right now, we`re working with some awesome investigadors and the members are helping out a ton with referrals. We`re planning a marriage this week on Friday, Luis Alberto and Maria are going to get married! Then on Saturday they`re going to get baptised with their two kids Jesús and Maricarmen. The family is so awesome, they`re really humble people and have progressed a ton. They aren`t in the best situation financially but they`re willing to keep the commandments and join the church. They have already seen some blessings in their lives, because the dad Luis was out of work for a long time and just recently he got a job in construction. It`s really hard right now for a lot of the people here in Ferreñafe because there isn`t a lot of jobs. Pray for the Cornetero family this week so that they can get married and baptised this week!! We`re also teaching this lady named Olga Sanchez who is progressing a lot and told us that she wanted to be baptised so we set a baptismal date for June 15th and she accepted, she`s about 64 years old and has been going to church  she went to stake conference yesterday in Chiclayo with us. We`re still working with Manuel, we taught him and his family this last week about the Plan of Salvation and taught a little bit about temples. As far as investigadors go right now the Lord is blessing us, me and my companion are doing good he`s still waiting for his visa so that he can go to his mission in Mexico, Merida. 

Nothing to crazy has happened this week other than the marriage and baptisms that we are going to be having this month. Oh and we`re working with Walter Armando as well he still hasn`t made it to church because he is sick, he has a problem with his kidneys and he used to drink a lot before and now his body is having problems. It seems like what happened to him has made him more humble and willing to follow Christ because before this happened to him he didn`t want anything to do with the church.  

Thanks for sending a package :) Keep sending pictures and writing about what goes on at home! Love you guys and i´ll talk to you next week! 

-Elder Connelly

Jhon and Jahira's baptism 5/27/13

It was the best to get to talk to all of you yesterday and at the same time it was really weird to say goodbye ha. I couldn´t really see my new sister but in the pictures that you sent me I was able to see a little better what she looks like. She looks so fragile, the pictures you sent look really cool with all the family holding the baby :) It´s a bummer to have not been able to be there with you guys to see her be born and all that, but like you said mom maybe she was able to acompany me here in my mission. That´s funny that you said you wanted to have 10 babies, I would have never thought that are family would be as big as it is. You and dad have really been able to keep the commandment that God gave to Adam and Eve to multiply and replenish the earth haha. It´s really special to have a big family I think, here in Peru I´ve seen that in the culture families are important to the people.

I didn´t really tell you guys what happened this week when I talked to you on skype, but to fill you in we baptised this week! We baptised on Monday Johana, sadly her husband wasn´t able to get baptised because he didn´t pass he baptismal interview. Manuel her husband, has had a problem with his personality because he has an explosive personality. His sister got robbed and he used to walk around with a pistol and he had stopped using his pistol but when that happened he was on a mission to find the robbers and either fight them or shoot them. So we decided to give him a little of time to be able to progress a little more. He went to church yesterday with his wife and he was really participating in our Gospel Principles class. I think he´s going through the repentance process, I see him more calm now and humble. A lot of times Christ taught that we should become as a small child, meek, submissive and if we do that we can experience the power of the Atonement and repent. If i´m not mistaken it´s in 3 Nephi 9 and in Matthew somewhere, I can´t remember the verses. He was really upset that he wasn´t able to get baptised with his wife, but I think this will help him to reflect and really repent of his sins. We put a baptismal date for his two kids Jhon and Johana for May 25th, so were hoping by the 25th Manuel will get baptised with his two kids, keep your fingers crossed :)

On Saturday we had a fun ward activity for Mother´s Day and we acted out a funny sketch. Where there´s a mom that has kids that lie and wants to find a way to detect the lies that her kids tell her. In the sketch this lady sales a lying detecting mummy to the mom and everytime someone lies the mummy shakes. It´s kind of hard to explain but it turned out super funny. I sent a picture of me rapped up in toilet paper as the mummy haha.

I´m doing really good like I told you guys yesterday and I´m really enjoying me new area the investigadors my companion and the members. God has blessed me to always have cool companions I think, I´m always able to learn a lot from all of them. I´m glad that you guys are glad that i´m here in the mission and it always feels good to have your support. It´s a bummer for some of the elders in the mission because their families don´t support them or because their families don´t want them in the mission. Things are going good other than the freakin mosquitos haha. I´m using repellent now but I think I got cursed with mom´s blood because the mosquitos love to bite me.

Oh today I went and bought two pairs of pants I hope that´s okay :) haha, they costed me 120 soles I¨m not sure how expensive that is in dollars I tried buying pants inexpensive but at the same time pants that weren´t going to rip within two weeks. Thanks for sending the package! It´s the best when you get a package in the mission, it´s like a little slice of the outside world haha. Welp I got to go love you guys and have a good week!

-Elder Connelly

Feliz dia de la Madre!! 5/13/13

It was the best to get to talk to all of you yesterday and at the same time it was really weird to say goodbye ha. I couldn´t really see my new sister but in the pictures that you sent me I was able to see a little better what she looks like. She looks so fragile, the pictures you sent look really cool with all the family holding the baby :) It´s a bummer to have not been able to be there with you guys to see her be born and all that, but like you said mom maybe she was able to acompany me here in my mission. That´s funny that you said you wanted to have 10 babies, I would have never thought that are family would be as big as it is. You and dad have really been able to keep the commandment that God gave to Adam and Eve to multiply and replenish the earth haha. It´s really special to have a big family I think, here in Peru I´ve seen that in the culture families are important to the people.

I didn´t really tell you guys what happened this week when I talked to you on skype, but to fill you in we baptised this week! We baptised on Monday Johana, sadly her husband wasn´t able to get baptised because he didn´t pass he baptismal interview. Manuel her husband, has had a problem with his personality because he has an explosive personality. His sister got robbed and he used to walk around with a pistol and he had stopped using his pistol but when that happened he was on a mission to find the robbers and either fight them or shoot them. So we decided to give him a little of time to be able to progress a little more. He went to church yesterday with his wife and he was really participating in our Gospel Principles class. I think he´s going through the repentance process, I see him more calm now and humble. A lot of times Christ taught that we should become as a small child, meek, submissive and if we do that we can experience the power of the Atonement and repent. If i´m not mistaken it´s in 3 Nephi 9 and in Matthew somewhere, I can´t remember the verses. He was really upset that he wasn´t able to get baptised with his wife, but I think this will help him to reflect and really repent of his sins. We put a baptismal date for his two kids Jhon and Johana for May 25th, so were hoping by the 25th Manuel will get baptised with his two kids, keep your fingers crossed :)

On Saturday we had a fun ward activity for Mother´s Day and we acted out a funny sketch. Where there´s a mom that has kids that lie and wants to find a way to detect the lies that her kids tell her. In the sketch this lady sales a lying detecting mummy to the mom and everytime someone lies the mummy shakes. It´s kind of hard to explain but it turned out super funny. I sent a picture of me rapped up in toilet paper as the mummy haha.

I´m doing really good like I told you guys yesterday and I´m really enjoying me new area the investigadors my companion and the members. God has blessed me to always have cool companions I think, I´m always able to learn a lot from all of them. I´m glad that you guys are glad that i´m here in the mission and it always feels good to have your support. It´s a bummer for some of the elders in the mission because their families don´t support them or because their families don´t want them in the mission. Things are going good other than the freakin mosquitos haha. I´m using repellent now but I think I got cursed with mom´s blood because the mosquitos love to bite me.

Oh today I went and bought two pairs of pants I hope that´s okay :) haha, they costed me 120 soles I¨m not sure how expensive that is in dollars I tried buying pants inexpensive but at the same time pants that weren´t going to rip within two weeks. Thanks for sending the package! It´s the best when you get a package in the mission, it´s like a little slice of the outside world haha. Welp I got to go love you guys and have a good week!

-Elder Connelly