This week went by so fast I don't even know what happened. Transfers came in and although no one is leaving the office. The companionships got changed up a bit. Now I'm compañeros with Elder Pardo. My trainer was a Chilean as well, so I already have a head start on the Chilean slang. Mondays are always crazy because people come to the office on their p day to get stuff done, and then the other 4 days we had a meeting every day. And since I'm companions with Elder Pardo now, I have to do all the stuff with him to help him prep for that. I swear it was Monday just yesterday. Time flies when you're super busy I guess. Due to all these meetings, we didn't get very much time in for proselyting. But somehow we still managed to end the week with a few potentials that we can call and visit later, so that's a pretty good miracle. Elder Pardo and I are getting along well. I think we'll have some good success throughout our time together. The work in Covima is going pretty well. Yesterday we did this big activity where we got a member to dress up as Santa and we contacted nearby and had people take pictures with him. Then we sent the pictures to the people, and later we'll send them the Gracias a Él video too. It was a super fun, effective, and different way of working. It was a pretty big success I'd say. I'm pretty excited right now because our budget is looking pretty good. When I got here, we were like 3-4% over budget, and now we're only .5% over budget. Oh if the old me heard me say that jajaja. Am I that boring now that the budget excites me? Anywho, I'm excited to work this transfer! Have a good week!
-Elder White
Saturday
I know that the temple is the house of the Lord. I know that once they are dedicated, the temple is an extremely holy structure that bridges both sides of the veil. I know that the ordinances that we do there last for us in this life and for all eternity. The work we do for and in behalf of the deceased is real. The dead have the gospel preached unto them. They have the opportunity to accept those ordinances to have the same blessings we have. I know that the temple is part of God's work of glory: to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. This morning Elder Wilcox and I got up early to make a 6 AM temple trip with the ward and some CRs. Well, we had been planning on having 6 or 7 of the CRs come as well as ward leaders, but in the end there was only Obispo, Takeshi, Mario and Marleni that came. One thing I find interesting is how much more popular baptisms for the dead are in the states than here (almost no one does them here). We were kinda worried about Mario because we didn't remember how hard his baptism was to do until we were already in the temple. It was hard still, but he got 6 names done and had a good attitude about it after. He and Marleni both had great experiences. The bishop bought us breakfast after, so that was cool. Pday seemed to last forever today. I decided to call my family and say hi since they were at Grandma White's dipping chocolates. I enjoyed it even though I called on Thanksgiving too. This morning the zone leaders in Santa Clara and Elder Koch initiated Operation Elder White Bamba. It would have been a total waste of my time. The dueña claims it'll cost 1600 PEN to paint the house, which is totally ridiculous. So now I need to hurry and contract a painter by Monday so that she doesn't steal the 1000 sol guarantee. La familia Velasquez was supposed to go to the temple this morning, but Carmen sent us a 3 AM text saying she couldn't go due to a family situation. We inquired further and apparently she and Juan Pablo got into a big fight and is staying with family on the other side of Lima. We had a cita scheduled with Monica. She came late, but also with Camila, her "atheist" 17 year old daughter. Basically Monica locked us alone in a room with Camila and told us to talk to her about God. She was polite and all, but she was obviously only there out of obligation. It was a little awkward.
Sunday
Wow. It's already December. Crazy beans. I know that my Heavenly Father and Savior Jesus Christ, love me. The Holy Ghost is right there with them, so I'm assuming he loves me too. It's kinda interesting how little we know about him, by the way. I know that no matter what happens, God will always love us and will want us to return to live with him someday. All he asks is that we live the Gospel and keep His commandments. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. I had to wake up Elder Pardo this morning because he slept through his alarm. When I did, he immediately started laughing and said, "Dude, last night I gave an Elder a haircut. It's so bad! The shaver slipped and I took out a big chunk in his hair when he moved." It was pretty bad, but also pretty funny. He took out the whole left side of his bang like 1 1/2 in into it. Completely shaved. He tried wearing a baseball hat to church, so we were kinda like, "....you're kidding, right? It's not even that bad. You know you can't wear that to church." He kept his hand glued to his forehead the whole time. Obispo thought he was super depressed until we explained that he might be if he let anyone see his hair. We went to go pick up Monica and Camila. Camila left early to go get breakfast, saying she'd go to church after. Monica brought another one of their 'slaves' named Andrea to church with her today. Camila showed up to church about 35 minutes late. She ran off after the 2nd hour before we could talk to her. I've turned a lot over to Mary, who's a great YW hermana. Camila is super influenced by her friends. I've never worked with an "atheist" before. I say "atheist" because I don't think that there's anyone in Peru that denies the existence of a higher being. Hopefully she progresses. Speaking of which, we still have no idea what to do with Monica. Tonight the 4 of us had a little presentation with the ward leaders. My part was on escogidos and references. Short and sweet. They all laughed at the parts they were supposed to laugh at and I seemed to get my point across.
All in all, it was an effective ward presentation that should boost our relationship with them. Today was judgement day. Despite what we thought, there were no changes to the companionships in the office.
Tuesday
I know that faith is a critical part of our daily lives/testimonies. This is one of the must have traits that marks a true disciple of Jesus Christ. Sometimes, things will seem bleak. Questions or doubts may surface. Questions are ok, doubts aren't. We just need to remind ourselves that we can't understand everything that God can. I know that if we have faith through the dark times, brighter days full of blessings will be ahead. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. Life's gotten crazy recently. Judgement day lied to me. We got to the office yesterday and the assistants told me that Elder Pardo and I are going to be companions. Here's our jobs in the office: Elder Pardo- official errand runner and handyman, Elder White- official bill payer and guardian of the receipts, Elder Wilcox- official note taker/the guy that makes sure that you're not an illegal immigrant, Elder Armstrong- official drug dealer that makes sure no one dies. Yesterday morning we did a mudanza (move) for Clo Ortiz. The reason why is kinda sad: she and her husband are getting divorced. It's so sad to see a temple marriage ended. Their 3rd child is two months old too. She's still in the ward boundary though, so I'm sure she'll be active still. We were running around liked chickens with our heads chopped off last night trying to get stuff ready for the first day training today. We didn't get home til 11:30 PM Hermana Amato is super loving. She's always telling us how much she loves us. She sent us a super nice message. Today was just super busy. I had no idea that Elder Pardo had to run so many errands. I think we did a bazillion and half of them during the first day training this morning. We had to buy pillows, sheets, more food, pick up backpacks, etc. Nearly all the Hermanas in our mission are training; there's a lot of them.
Wednesday
I know that gratitude is good. It goes a long way. We should always thank God for what we have with a sincere heart. If we do so, I believe that He is more willing to bless us. The more grateful we are, the happier we are as well. It's just cool to be thankful. One question I like is, "When I pray, do I sound like a well behaved, thankful child? Or do I sound whiny and unthankful?" While it's definitely recommended to ask for things, it's also important to give thanks, which is something I can be better at. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. The new leaders training was this morning, but Elder Armstrong took one for the team and went with Elder Pardo instead of me. A few days before transfers, we were informed that 4 missionaries that were to report to the Cochabamba mission in Bolivia would come start their missions here until things over there cooled down a bit more. It kinda caused us a headache to hurry and get them all their stuff and put them in areas last second, but we did it. Then this morning the area called us and was like, "Hey, remember those Bolivian missionaries? You don't have to worry about them anymore. They leave tonight at 8." At that point I think everyone simultaneously said, "On, come on. Really man?" President had to reorganize a bunch of areas and we had to do a bunch of stuff to undo the other stuff we stressed about in addition to more stuff we had to do to ship them off. Needless to say, we weren't the happiest bunch of people for that reason today. We had the craziest taxi driver on our way to Tottus tonight. He was weaving in and out, swerving all around, all at super high speeds. When we got there, Elder Pardo stepped out while I looked for my passage inside still. Then all of the sudden, the driver sped off with me inside. My first thought was, "This dude's gonna kidnap me!" I shouted and he pulled over 20 yards from where Elder Pardo got out. I payed and got out ASAP. That guy must've been drunk or on drugs or something. Elder Pardo bought poll a la brasa for a dish at the meeting tomorrow. He didn't need the skin, so I ate it plain. It was tasty; no regrets, especially since I only weighed 189.5 on the scale this morning. I haven't been below 190 for at least 2 1/2 years.
Thursday
I know that my Redeemer lives. What comfort this sweet sentence gives. He lives. He lives who once was dead. He lives, my ever living Head. He lives all glory to his name. He lives my Savior still the same. He lives my mansion to prepare. He lives to guide me safely there. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. We did our workouts like normal. I did my stuff and then went to make a protein shake. I watched Elder Napier make one for me yesterday, but I had never made one before. You know what they say; if you don't know what to do, just improvise your way to victory. I didn't do half bad, by the way. Today was consejo de liderazgo (leadership council). At the end, the assistants had them all do some reflecting on their zones. While they were doing that, we talked to President. We showed President everything. No limits. The assistants showed a video of the haircut Elder Pardo gave that Elder and President had to leave because he laughed so hard. Then Elder Pardo showed a video of a time he scared Elder Leite pretty good. He did an impersonation of me and President laughed and told Elder Pardo to imitate him too. It was a good time. There's been a problem that's surfaced recently where mission vendors haven't been getting their money, and I'm not sure why. Like, I do everything right on my end to get it sent through and all, but then for whatever reason it doesn't get processed in the system. Elder Pardo suggested praying. I forgot and went to check my email when we got back to the office, only to find a Light the World reminder to pray thankfully. So I did, and then checked all the payments. They all said that they'd get processed tomorrow. That was a miracle. I received my Christmas package today.
(A picture the delivery company took of the delivery.)
We went to go drop off my package off in our room, but our bedroom door was locked. Weird because A: we never close that door and B: How'd it lock itself? We thought there might be someone inside, but in the end we got it open and there wasn't.
Friday
Last night, Elder Pardo and I decided to share a scripture with Juana, our pensionista (cook), before leaving to buy break. I pulled out Moroni 10:32 to share with her. This experience was a testimony builder to me because it was a reminder to me that the spirit teaches you while you teach. "Open your mouth and it shall be filled." I explained how this scripture basically summarizes the Book of Mormon. The entire purpose is to draw ourselves nearer until Christ. She started to cry a bit. Her husband is kinda old and doesn't talk much, so that's kinda rough for her I think. This morning Elder Pardo and Elder Leite had to go to trunky trining, which meant that Elder Napier and I had to prepare the break for it. On our way there, Elder Napier said, "Ya know, we'll have to go to this in 2 transfers from now." I wasn't ready for that. After that we went back and got some work done. Then I took Elder Wilcox and went to Tottus for the fifth time in 5 days in order to pick up some pizza for the training. I can only imagine what those people think when they see us walk in there. "Oh no, these white guys again? What are they gonna do this time? Buy all of our fruit and chicken? Or will they buy another 6 cakes like they have the past 4 days?" I spent my whole day working on end of month expense reports. Exciting stuff. Speaking of reports, I got one today that says we're only .5% over budget right now. We were 3-4% over when I got here. Cool beans. Be wise with your money kids, Elder White is watching hehehe. Today we had a Christmas activity with the assistants, as well as the Hermanas from Mayorazgo and Centenario. We got a sleigh and had a member dress up as Santa Clause. We contacted nearby and had families and people take pictures with him.
We texted them the pic and later will send them a church video. It was a pretty big success. There was one guy I contacted but was like, "No, I'm atheist," kinda rudely. So I said, "Well, do you want a picture with Santa then?" "No, I said I'm atheist. Besides, that's stupid American crap." Elder Pardo called after him, "But our Santa's Peruvian!" That was funny. Elder Wilcox and Elder Armstrong had to leave to go to the hospital at 10 tonight.
The temple at Christmas time.
Me imitating a fish at Tottus.
The activity we did with the priests in our ward the other week.
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