This was a good week. Let's start with the milagros. About 3 weeks ago, a family of 4 wandered into our church meeting. The mom's boss (from another ward) had invited them to go. Elder Pardo, Elder Recalde and I went to go visit them later that day. We had a decent lesson with them, but they didn't accept our invitation to get baptized. We offered to visit them again, but they declined. They said they'd go to church the next week though, but then I reminded them that there would be the whole voting thing so that there would be no church. We all just kind of forgot about them because it seemed that they didn't want anything to do with the church.
Well, lo and behold, they actually came to church on Sunday. On a
scale of 1-10, we were a 12.5 on the surprised scale. It turns out that
they're actually a family of 5! They have a 20 year old son that they
brought along, even though he's kinda against
religion. It turned out that the Relief Society president in our ward
happened to have their 11 year old daughter, Lucero, in one of the
English classes that she teaches, so it was cool that they already knew
someone there. The dad of the family, Moises, somehow
got a hold of a copy of the Book of Mormon and had been studying it
since the beginning. He was really interested in the Ven, Sigueme (Come Follow Me) class.
They accepted that we go visit them later in the day.
Look guys, this family was basically made for Elder White. The
first time we went there, I noticed a model NASA rocket on the shelf.
He's just an accountant that likes outer space. Then the next time, he
was watching a National Geographic documentary about
aerospace. Their dog came running up to me and as I scratched it's
ears, I asked them what his name was. "Luke," they told me. "Short for
Lucas?" I asked. "No, it's short for LUKE SKYWALKER!!!" WHAT??? They
like Star Wars! This is like the first time I've
met people down here that knew Star Wars decently well and liked it. I
made a sincere effort to contain my excitement. Let's just say that
these guys are my new bff's.
We went there and had a really good lesson on the Restoration. We
asked Moises to pray and in the prayer he thanked God for having made
the truth made known unto him. That was pretty cool. We returned later
in the week to teach the Plan of Salvation. We
really testified to them and the spirit was there to lead the way.
While testifying of the Celestial Kingdom in Heaven, we really tied
baptism into how their family would be blessed. Well, Moises, his wife
(Araseli) and Lucero want to get baptized the seventh
of March! Angelina is only six and their 20 y/o didn't want to listen,
so that's why they don't have a date. But all in all, it was a great
experience and an amazing blessing from God to have found these
wonderful people. The only way we find people like this
in the office is by the grace of God. We have to rely on him so much
since we have such limited work time. But it's amazing how he can still
help us be instruments in his hands even when we have limited time! I
know that this is His work and that the gathering
of Israel is God's top priority. Have a good week!
-Elder White
Thursday
Ya know, the part where Alma meets Amulek, baptized him, then they preach in Ammoniahah is probably my favorite part in the Book of Mormon. Zeezrom might be my favorite character development. He goes from fighting against them to almost dying and getting baptized to preaching with Alma and Amulek to go and preach to the Zoramites. Just everything about that trio is amazing. Speaking by the power of the spirit really does change people. The gospel is an amazing thing, and cannot and will not be defeated. As Alma said, the word of God has more influence over people than the sword. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. So we had consejo de distrito this morning, my first one as a district leader. The other DL, Elder Cahuana, is in his first transfer of being a DL too by the way. I didn't have much time to plan something, so I pulled out my Columbia Consecration training back out. It went pretty well I'd say. It was a little long, but wasn't that bad actually. I think I got my point across. After that we came back to the office to get our work done for the day. We ordered Taco Bell for lunch, which is kinda pricey. I now have 70¢ left for the month. I don't really know what happened with the office this quincena (month) but we were all hurting for money. But that's life I guess. So as we went to leave the office to work today, I remembered that we needed more pasaje money in order to run the errands that we were going to need to run, so I went back into my office to get the caja chica out of my safe. I went to get they key out of my hiding place, and it wasn't there. I didn't accidentally leave it in the safe either. I started to really freak out and searched frantically for that key. I retraced all my steps a dozen times of when I locked it, went to put the AC remote away in President's room, and told everyone it was time to go. It's impossible to lock it in the safe, so I know that it's not in there. I tore apart my entire office looking for it. I don't know why it would be in that filing cabinet buried in a binder I've never opened, but I checked there literally everywhere. In the end I gave up and went out to proselyte. Hopefully it shows up tomorrow. I can't really break into this one.
Friday
I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true. I know that Russel M Nelson is God's prophet called to guide the church today. I know that Joseph Smith was the prophet called to restore God's church. I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. I know that Christ lives and loves us very much. I know that Heavenly Father loves us too and hears and answers our prayers. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. So I got to the office this morning and continued my search for the missing key to the safe. I've said around a dozen prayers for help to find it, but was having no luck. I was one very stressed out little man. The last thing I wanted to do was tell Francisco that I had misplaced that key. Let's take a look at my search history: "What do I do if I lose the key to my safe?", "Locksmiths in Lima, Peru", "What all hope is lost conference talks". Then Elder Davis came into my room and looked around a bit. He found the key in my cup holder. That was a big sigh of relief. Speaking of finding keys, I found the ones to my bedroom that we had to break into last week. Someone moved them and put them buried on a cluttered table. Oh well. I had my interview with President today. It was a good one. He praised me for the spiritual maturity that I've developed. I asked President if I'd be ending my mission in the office. He said, "Oh wow. There isn't much time left, is there? Let's look at who could be your replacement." Well, President sent me to go make some posters. When I dropped them off in my office after, there was a small earthquake. Exciting. We took Elder Mendoza, the missionary in a wheelchair, to a NDH with William and Rosa with their nietos (grandchildren). We shared a good message about prayer. We played that one game where you splash water on people when they guess the word correctly. They all really seemed to enjoy that. From there we found out that Gloria canceled on us for that cita. She never answered our calls nor responded to our texts.
Saturday
I know that faith causes miracles. I know that faith without works is dead. There's a scripture that I really like in the book of James where he explains that it's not enough to only believe in Christ, because even the demons know that God exists. The only thing that makes us different than them is that we are willing to act in faith according to the commandments of God. I know that if we do so, we will see the power of God in our lives. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. So today was kind of a hard day. It was the hardest one that I've had in a while. My friend, Parker, is really struggling. It is very sad for me to hear that. Anywho, I decided to call home today. That was probably the trunkiest hour or so of my entire mission. It sounds like we're going to the Dominican Republic where I get home. Sounds good to me because I've got 2 years of piña coladas to make up for. The main reason I called was because I wanted to talk to Jaxon about his future. I was extremely happy to hear that he's going to be taking mission prep classes and start his papers soon. Well, today was fast Sunday start time. Work time wasn't very fun today. Elder Davis and Elder Colton called to tell me that Estefano was going to move to Chosica. There other investigator, Valeska, fell earlier in the week too, and that one was because her parents are too lazy. Elder Recalde and I tried getting a hold of Gloria all day long. I think we called her about 10 times throughout the day. I was starting to freak out a lot bit. She finally answered eventually. She told us that she decided to go to Huancayo again for the weekend. I don't now why she did that so impulsively. Now because she isn't coming to church tomorrow, she can't get baptized next Saturday. I hope that she at least comes back with Jeff.
Sunday
I know that Sunday is the Sabbath day. I know that when we give God the priority in our lives by doing things like going to church, we will find that the blessings of Heaven will come to us more liberally. Of the 168 hours every week, God only asks for 2 hours in the church on Sunday (plus scripture study, prayers, and stuff in our home throughout the week). In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. So today had its ups and downs. We got there to church this morning and there were 193 people in attendance! That's crazy. When this ward split 16 months ago, it's attendance was around 70, and that's where it was at too when the office Elders initially got here. It's been steadily climbing ever since. Only 1/4 or so of the members here are less active, which has to be the best percentage in Peru. Unfortunately, Mayte wasn't one of those people there today. She wouldn't answer her phone. Later in the day she called me and explained that the reason why she didn't come today was because Elder Davis and Elder Colton told her that she would need to come today in order to be baptized this week, and she didn't feel ready for her baptism, so she didn't come. So in total 5/6 investigators in my district fell, and they were all from Covima. I hope that they knew what they were doing when they called me as DL. Royer (Estefano's dad), an MA, was there today. Everyone said hi to him and stuff. I actually didn't know who he was at first. We were there in the Come Follow Me class and I lent him my Book of Mormon so he could follow along because I thought he was an investigator. He read 1 Nephi 16-18. Remember 2 Sundays ago when that family of 4 wandered into church? They came again! And there's acutally 5 of them! They told us that they'd be back in 2 weeks when we visited them. I thought it was balogna, but they acutally came back! They enjoyed it again, so we took out another cita. The last time we went, we felt like we should have taught the Restoration, so we did that today. We walked in and they had a documentary about space on. Their dog is named Luke, after Luke Skywalker. Basically, this family was made for me. We're BFFs. Right as we were about to relate the first vision, music suddenly started playing loudly downstairs. I said a silent prayer that it would stop and it did. That was a miracle. All in all, great lesson.
Monday
Last night as Elder Recalde and I were walking along, we passed by in front of one of the two clinics in our area. A lady saw us and said, "Elders! Un ratito." She explained how they're from Santa Felicia and her friend was in the ER. (They are both about 60 years old.) We were able to go in and give her a blessing that she was really in need of. I know that it's not by coincidence that we crossed paths. I know that God will also send people to minister unto us in times of need. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. It was a pretty busy office day of doing the end of month expense report. Other than that though, office time wasn't overly exciting. Last night I got a phone call from an angry dueña. I hadn't received one of those in a while. Basically we had to do an emergency mudanzo for the Hermanas in Las Viñas. According to the contract, the dueña will keep all of the guarantee since we didn't gave a 30 day notice. That's fine, but the dueña is also demanding 300 extra soles to paint the house. Bruh. That's what the guarantee is for. So I argued with her for a while before I said I'd call her back today. I ain't gonna call back. There's 3 things I hate: Jehovah Witnesses, Iglesia de Dios, or other chumps trying to argue with me; pushups; angry dueños. Elder Recalde had to stop by the podologa on on our way out to work today because his toes were hurting and there was weird puss stuff. Long story short, he didn't rest like he should've after his surgery and how he had to get another small operation to fix it up. Elder Lopez has a bad back, so he's coming to stay with us for 3 weeks. Elder Dodds was here to pick up a mini missionary. So what we did was send Elder Lopez with Elder Recalde so that they both could rest and I went out with Elder Colton and Elder Davis. We just contacted the entire night. They're both really great guys, but both of them tend to look at the glass as half empty. I'm trying to think of ways that I can help them over come this obstacle because they'll find a lot more if they do. I'm going to try and get the ZLs to do an intercambio with them. As an ex-office Elder, I think that Elder Tenny can help.
Tuesday
I know that the priesthood was restored by John the Baptist and Peter, James and John. I know that if we are worthy priesthood holders, then God will make us instruments in His hands. We will be the means of blessing the lives of many. I know that I possess this portion of God's power and that if it were necessary, I could accomplish all the miracles Jesus would want me to--if I have faith. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. Elder Davis had to take a bunch of missionaries to migrations this morning, so all of their comps got left in the office. Elder Shockley was one of them. He came up to my office to get reconcilacion de fondo (background reconciliation) A paper, but my computer wouldn't turn on. Well, we found ourselves talking about Star Wars. He really likes it, maybe almost as much as I do. He even appreciates the memes! I hadn't had a good, intelligent conversation about that in a long time. I like that guy. So it turns out that my computer wouldn't turn on because our office was in a blackout. It's pretty hard to work on your computer if there's no electricity FYI. It was a weird blackout though because some lights would turn on and my AC too (though it blew no cold air). Every 10 minutes, the power would come back for .34 seconds. No one came to fix it until 4 PM. In the mean time, we waited and fruitlessly tried to be productive. I sent Peruvians to pay their no-voting multa, but the bank told them that the list wouldn't be ready until the end of the month. They told me it'd be ready a week ago, then today, and now in a month? This is the Peruvian government. Remember back in the day when I used to be filled by a PB&J? Well today I ate 5 of them for lunch. I went with Covimal to visit Mayte. She really wants to get baptized February 22! After the lesson, she sent us a picture of a plan she made for her OLA. She has some really good and mature goals. We did a district attack in Centanario after. I think that that helped them a lot. If people at Tottus saw Elder White doing hard drifts with shopping carts, they'd think he was crazy. That's why I've had to master the art of the formal shopping card drift. You can have fun but ya gotta be professional at the same time.
Wednesday
So Elder Mendoza looks like he's going to be in the office for 2 years, at least that's what President told me. He's got a really bad back problem, so he can't walk that well and usually cruises around in his wheel chair. Some of the other office Elders sometimes have a bad attitude about it. But he's a great kid and I'm learning a lot from him, mainly on having a positive attitude. It's like they say: life is 10% of what happens to you and 90% of what you make of it. I'm learning to be even more positive than I already am, and am trying to help the others. I know that as I do so, I'll be happier. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. As I was working with him today, Elder Mendoza told me that his family went to Machu Pichu without him. They didn't even tell him; he saw it on Facebook. Looks like the poor guy might be sleeping alone a few nights. We had the consejo de liderazgo (leadership council) today. It lasted a long time--until 3:30, then I had to clean up after too. It was a really good meeting though, so I feel like it'll really help the mission. I'm going to focus less on contacting and more on finding. For the meeting, Hermana Amato made Fejuada, a classic Brazilian dish. It was really good. I was talking to her a bit and it sounds like they'll probably be moving to Utah. I was walking along tonight and ran into Royer. I was just making mild chitchat and he said, "Yeah, we're going to bring Estefano down from Chosocu on Saturday; he's got to prepare for his baptism." We all thought that Estefano wasn't ever coming back, so that's great news! We went to go and visit William and Rosa tonight. William said, "Look at this and tell me if it's real," and then showed me how Duayne The Rock Johnson messaged him on Facebook offering $3 million--he just had to input his personal information. We had a good laugh and explained that it was fake. We taught them about vicarious baptism. Rosa, being herself, said that her parents were amazing, religious people, so they wouldn't need baptism. I used what she said and explained and teistfied as: "I believe you. I know that they were such good people that they recognized and accepted the truth on the other side. They're just waiting on you." The spirit was really strong.
Thursday
To me, I find it very interesting that a flame has no shadow. If you light a match and then shine a flashlight on it, there will be a shadow for the match stick, but not for the flame. No matter the size of the flame or however bright the other light source, it is literally impossible for light to have a shadow. This example has a lot of spiritual applications. The most outstanding one is this: we all matter. We're each like a match. Some of us might be extremely bright while others may be dim. But in the end, we all shine more brightly together; we don't cast shadows. I know that God loves each and every one of us. I also know that by small and simple means are great things brought to pass. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. I had a dream last night that I ate dinner with Elder Uchtdorf and his wife. After the dinner I said, "That was really good Harriet, thanks!" After that I went to Tottus with Jaxon and then realized that my stake president never released me. Those are definitely dreams of a missionary. We and consejo this morning. The Hermana leaders did a great training on the joy of missionary work. I had the zone leaders come and do intercombios with Elder Davis and Elder Colton to try and help them out a bit. It was cool for Elder Tenney to come back. We had a cita with Moises, Araseli, Lucero and Angelina. We had a really good lesson on the Plan of Salvation. I felt like we really got to connect with them. Moises is up to date on his Ven, Sigueme (Come Follow Me) reading. He really enjoys learning about the church. We were testifying of the Celestial Kingdom and I weaved baptism into there. They all (except Angelina who's 6) accepted a baptism date for March 7th. Now that made me happy. I was kinda hesitant since it didn't go over super well last time, but I'm glad that I invited them. Elder Tenney taught me a new way to contact with the Book of Mormon because as Elder Holland said, it's our most powerful proselyting tool. There was a lady I contacted who started out by saying that she was already super creyente (believer). I normally would've let her pass, but instead I testified of the Bible and then moved to share about the Book of Mormon and shared a verse. It was a very successful contact. It was also probably the most spiritually powerful contact of my mission. I enjoyed that a lot.
Friday
There were days when I couldn't eat a liter of ice cream in one sitting let alone choose to do that for dinner. These are not those days. I don't know how it is for you, but every once in a while I'll just have it dawn on me that I know the church is true. I mean, I obviously knew that before hand, it's just like another reassurance where you realize how real everything is. We were singing (I Am a Child of God) tonight at Joakin's baptism and I had one of those moments as I pondered upon the lyrics. The spirit really touched me. I know that this church is 100% true. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. Today was what you call a hectically busy day. I had barely started on the monthly expense report on Monday, and that's a 3 full day project if you do your studies in the morning. So I had to continue that today. It got complicated though because President's card stopped working on his Uber account yesterday and needed me to fix it for him ASAP Rocky. Part of my job is being given a problem I have no idea how to fix and having to find a solution. Sometime in the afternoon, President called me into his room with 20 or so other missionaries that are ending between now and August. He really drilled into us that we needed to develop a solid vision of where we want to be 20 years from now. He really drilled into us that we need to do this in order to be successful in life. Today Joakin (Bishop's son) got baptized. When we first got there, we saw people setting stuff up for a large get together so I asked, "Are you here for Joakin's baptism?" "Who's that?" Long story short, there's a guy in Centenario that got home from his mission 15 days ago and today he got married with a girl that he met in the MTC. I would consider that guy medio loco. The idea of being married in 5 months scares me. The single life is just to good to give up so fast. Joakin's baptism was good. We were just there because bishop invited us, and it's a good way to stay in touch with the ward. I did my first baptism interview with Centenario's 17 year old investigator, Marcelo. It was a very spiritually enlightening experience. I enjoyed that. He was very ready for his baptism.
Official mission picture from when Elder Holland was here.
Joakin's baptism.
When you wonder why no one wants to buy the lot.
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