Punchana Iquitos, Perú

This week has been good. We have been working diligently with the members as well as our district to brain storm how we can better use our time and work in our area. I think that sometimes we look for excuses to not work as hard instead of looking for the blessings to help us find and teach. Yesterday pretty much every house was drinking for fathers day. This is difficult because our area is very small so we couldn't really find an area where there was no alcohol and were there wasn't music blasting. But in reality this was an opportunity to find those who have the same values as us that don't drink or those that observe the sabbath day. But I am so grateful to gain a greater testimony of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. Its really amazing how many people we talk with they feel that are missing something in their lives but they can't really say what it is, and our message brings a peace and happiness and fulfillment into their lives. I think that as we realize our identity as children of God we are able to recognize his love for us and learn to live and love his commandments. This is truly when the blessings come to us .

My companion and I are still learning how to work together in our area but we just need to look for those who are interested in our message. We know that only through their  agency will these people accept our message and apply it to their lives. I am so grateful for this opportunity to serve those around me and to represent my savior Jesus Christ, Don't get me wrong-- the mission is really difficult because we are all human. We all have our faults and these can be road blocks at times but as we allow ourselves to do the will of the lord we are able to grow and overcome these difficulties.

This week I have been studying Alma in The Book of Mormon and i thought i would share these scriptures with you because i know that we can ask for forgiveness from our Heavenly Father through his son Jesus Christ and we are able to communicate through prayer. i am so grateful for you all hopefully i will have more to write next week!!!

ALMA 34:17-19, 27, 31-35, 38

17 Therefore may God grant unto you, my brethren, that ye may begin to exercise your ^afaith unto repentance, that ye begin to ^bcall upon his holy name, that he would have mercy upon you;

18 Yea, cry unto him for mercy; for he is ^amighty to save.

19 Yea, humble yourselves, and continue in ^aprayer unto him.

27 Yea, and when you do not cry unto the Lord, let your ^aheartsbe ^bfull, drawn out in prayer unto him continually for your ^cwelfare, and also for the welfare of ^dthose who are around you. 

 31 Yea, I would that ye would come forth and ^aharden not your hearts any longer; for behold, now is the time and the ^bday of your ^csalvation; and therefore, if ye will repent and ^dhardennot your hearts, immediately shall the great plan of redemption be brought about unto you.

32 For behold, this ^alife is the time for men to ^bprepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of ^cthis life is the day for men to perform their ^dlabors.

33 And now, as I said unto you before, as ye have had so many ^awitnesses, therefore, I beseech of you that ye do not ^bprocrastinate the day of your ^crepentance until the end; for after this day of life, which is given us to prepare for eternity, behold, if we do not improve our time while in this life, then cometh the ^dnight of ^edarkness wherein there can be no labor performed.

34 Ye cannot say, when ye are brought to that awful ^acrisis, that I will repent, that I will return to my God. Nay, ye cannot say this; for that same spirit which doth ^bpossess your bodies at the time that ye go out of this life, that same spirit will have power to possess your body in that eternal world.

35 For behold, if ye have procrastinated the day of your repentance even until death, behold, ye have become ^asubjected to the spirit of the devil, and he doth ^bseal you his; therefore, the Spirit of the Lord hath withdrawn from you, and hath no place in you, and the devil hath all power over you; and this is the final state of the wicked.

38 That ye ^acontend no more against the Holy Ghost, but that ye receive it, and take upon you the ^bname of Christ; that ye humble yourselves even to the dust, and ^cworship God, in whatsoever place ye may be in, in spirit and in truth; and that ye live in ^dthanksgiving daily, for the many ^emercies and blessings which he doth bestow upon you. 

sorry i got nothing this week

This week we have been working super hard in our area, but we need to find more and more. My area is pretty small so i feel like i know a decent amount of the people in my area.

But yah i have been with my new companion here for 2 weeks, and his name is Elder Mendoza and he's from Mexico, Puebla but we have been sick this last week haha so that's great. But we are out doing the work. Yah we have been meeting with a lot of people but the majority of them are moving or they don't want anything haha. But I'm definitely learning a lot about myself and about the gospel. I'm sorry I don't really have much to write about but I love and miss you all. 

May 27, 2019

Nothing much this week just a baptism and an earthquake haha. It is a very interesting week-- we are so happy to have the opportunity to have a baptism this week and to be able to teach Hermano Brando. He's so great! He's been meshing well with the youth in our ward and it has been great. The earth quake was weird...it was my first earthquake haha. But I don't have much time. I will get back to you all next week!

Cambio 3 May 17, 2019

This week is pretty boring. My comp is getting ready to go home in two weeks and he's a great missionary but we are not very diligent with our time and we have been slacking i feel. But I'm trying to get us on the right track. My companion woke me up this morning at 3;30 to ask what time it was and then after I couldn't go back to sleep we ended up playing soccer at 6 so I'm not super happy this morning.

This week like i mentioned we haven't had much, we have been meeting with some inactive members. We met with Hermano Jaime Garcia and he hasn't been to church in a while. His family was the first in our area to become members around 40 years ago and like him all of his family are inactive. We met with him earlier this week and had 2 lessons and he began to remember a part of his testimony and was crying and him and his daughter came to church yesterday. We have also been working with the mom of 2 recent converts and she is making great progress. It is super exciting and we really are excited for her to notice the blessing in her life. We also have some other investigators who are not keeping their commitments and do not have interest in learning more about the gospel of Jesus Christ and mostly about applying it in their lives. It's really sad because these people hurt and they want it to stop but they lack the faith needed to do the things that will help them in an eternal perspective.

I'm really just trying to put my head down and get to work. I'm grateful to all that are writing me take care!!

Jirón Napo #478
Iquitos, Maynas
Loreto
Peru

May 6, 2019

April 29, 2019

ya entonces, This last week has been interesting...My companion had many meetings and we had plenty of random things going on. He went home a few weeks early to start school and my new companion will go home in 4 weeks so I will again need a new companion, haha. But I was able to go with my companion to some of his old areas to say good-bye to some of the members. And there are so many beautiful areas out here. My area is pretty urban but these other areas are pretty remote and quiet and beautiful. One area is called Cistacocha and is just amazing. I'm a little sad to see my companion go but I am so happy for him, and my new trainer is super awesome as well. My trainer's name is Elder Giannerelli and he is close to the end of his mission but is still very enthusiastic about the work. We have only been together for 2 days but before he was the Zone leader and he is just a great missionary.

This week we ended up dropping an investigator because we felt he wasn't progressing and he also said that he felt bad that he couldn't keep his commitments. That was sad but we are also teaching  many other people and our time is sacred and we should treat it as such. As well we need to find those who are prepared to receive the gospel.

El Pascua - April 22, 2019

This last week we had changes...I'm still with my companion Elder Bustios which is also a Problem because he leaves for his home this Saturday which means I won't have a companion. So iI guess  we see what will happen. This week we didn't have any baptisms but we have plenty of appointments, but a lot of people don't keep their appointments which is lame but this gave us the opportunity to talk to other people, We are teaching 4 or 5 people and 2 of them are making great progress. There's a 17 year old we are teaching and he came to church yesterday. He lit up and stayed both hours and he's beginning to feel the blessings of the restored gospel in his life. His name is Brando Antonio and his mom is a single parent and she is also accepting our lessons and wants to continue. This family will be so blessed as they choose to follow the path of righteousness. 

Also we are teaching the daughter of an inactive family and as we have begun teaching they started going to church again. Their daughter is 13 or 14, and she is receiving the lessons very well. She is participating and growing as well. We hope to help her parents to remember there testimonies of the gospel. But they are a great family and we so happy to be teaching them. Also we have been teaching a family (a mom and her 2 daughters), the moms name is Amparo and her daughters names are Fernanda and Camila. They are a special family we met by knocking on doors and they have been growing as we have taught.  They said they weren't  sure is God exists, but they keep asking us to come back. We know that they are a special family and they will be deeply blessed as they come to know their loving Heavenly Father and his Son, Jesus Christ. Through the power of the Holy Ghost they will come to know these things, Along with reading the scriptures and attending Church. Sadly they are moving to Lima for awhile to be with her husband but we are confident that she will accept the missionaries there as well. There are so many blessing that we have in our lives and sometimes we look right pass them. Last night my companion and i along with sisters in our ward held an Easter Sunday Devotional, or in other words, Un Devotional del Pascua. It was so great! We kept it simple and sincere  which I think is important when talking about God's plan and the Atonement of Jesus Christ. We reminded those in attendance that as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints we remember the Atonement of Jesus Christ every day and every week as we partake of the Sacrament. And thanks to our loving Brother Jesus Christ we can return to our Father in Heaven and live in his presence with our families. Thanks to a teacher, brother, Son,
carpenter, and Leader all is possible. We will live again because of the sacrifice of the Father, and His son. And His Son so willingly did it because He loves us.

Amazing no!? This is such an important part of of our purpose here on Earth. I know that God has a plan for us and we can follow the example of our brother Jesus Christ to live with him again.

I'm so grateful to know of the message of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, because this is His Restored Church and Gospel on the earth. The same church He organized Himself when He was on the Earth. And we can receive the same blessing that God has promised us as we follow the straight and narrow path.

I love and miss you all but we have work to do. Until next time! Cuidese!!