Oh. And I was transferred to heaven... - 11/18/13

Welcome to Paita!

Azumacho. I don’t even know where to start. I honestly can´t remember all that has happened in the past week.....

This past week went really well. Final week of my training. There is a 12 week training planning program that missionaries have and now I am officially done with it. I can't believe that 12 weeks have already flown by. Seems like just yesterday when I was arriving in Piura.

This past week went really well for Elder C and me. We were able to find more than double the amount of new investigators this week as we were able to last week. I think it is because we were just talking to lots of people. And we spent a lot of time out working. I think it's important to use every minute possible to work. Time is a precious thing out here on the mission. And I'm determined to make the most of the little that I have.

Hermana S in the ward told us that her brother comes to her house on the weekends and would like to meet with the missionaries to learn more. We ended up having a great first lesson with him and he committed to being baptized! Preach my Gospel says that you can ask someone to be baptized in the first lesson, but I had no clue that it would actually work. He is the first person to say yes during the first lesson. It was a super cool experience. Preach my Gospel is legit. No doubt that the stuff in there can and should be used in the mission. If you follow what Preach My Gospel says, you're going to have success...

 This week we got a call from the zone leaders saying that we had a letter from president in our emails and we needed to read it that day because it had some "significant changes" in it. Turns out that the entire way we have transfers has been changed. Transfers will now be on Mondays instead of Tuesdays and we will get a call from the zone leaders Saturday night before transfers with all of the information (where you're going, when you're going, who is your companion, and what is your assignment). Pretty crazy change for us here in the mission. Elder C had been in Lopez Albujar longer than me so it made us anxious for Saturday night to find out what was going to happen.

The whole weekend was super out of the ordinary for us. Friday, Elder C was sick with a headache, diarrhea, and who knows what else. He spent pretty much all day in the bathroom and I spent pretty much all day reading, watching The District, reading, and eating and reading. Elder C had to call Lima again from the mission office even though he was sick so that afternoon we went over to the office and I had one of the best days ever. I got 4 letters. Letters make missionaries happy. Especially when you get more than one. I got the one from dad about the Red Sox. That was rude. You don't have to rub it in. But I definitely enjoyed it as well. I got the one with the November Ensign in it. That was super nice. No clue when we are going to get the one from the mission in Spanish. Everyone was jealous that I already have it to read! I got one from Brother Hales in the ward, and I got the letter with the USB of Christmas music. And boy was that nice. I can't tell if I'm excited for Christmas. I really, really, really, really, love Christmas. But it's not going to be the same here in Peru. I'm determined that I'm going to enjoy it though. No doubt. After that we went back to the apartment because Elder C still felt horrible.

 

Letters make missionaries happy!

Saturday was fun. Since President wants every companionship to have their own apartment, we changed apartments on Saturday morning with the zone leaders which was pretty fun. Super hot and sweaty though. We got to move everything by hand. Lots of exercise that day. I was so glad once we got everything moved and set up. The new room is smaller than the other one but it is super nice. And the bathroom is perfecto! Since Elder C has had more time in Lopez than me, we figured that he would be getting transferred and I would be getting a new companion in Lopez. So I ended up unpacking all of my suitcases in our new room and Elder C left all his stuff in his suitcase so he wouldn't have to pack again the following day.

All packed up and ready to change rooms.

Changing rooms with the zone leaders.

Saturday night came and it was time to hear from the zone leaders. At 10:00 they finally called and told us that I was being transferred to Paita and that Elder C was staying in the area. No joke. I couldn't believe it. I was super duper duper happy, but at the same time I was sad knowing that I have to say goodbye to Lopez Albujar. I really have enjoyed the time that I have had in Lopez Albujar. Sunday was honestly kind of sad saying goodbye to everyone in the ward. Sunday evening I had to pack my suitcases again for the second time in two days which was super fun.... NOT!

 

I'm going to Paita!

Last photo with Elder C (my trainer) before leaving Piura.

This morning Elder C and I had to be to the stake center at 9:00 and then I met up with two other Elders who I would be traveling to Paita with. We went to the bus station, paid 4 soles and got on the bus to Paita. Paita is a fishing town on the ocean 45 minutes from Piura. Super beautiful too. There are two parts of Paita, upper Paita and lower Paita. You first drive through upper Paita which is the desert and then you drop down this giant hill to lower Paita and you can see the ocean and it is beautiful. All the missionaries in our zone are in upper Paita except for my area. We have all of lower Paita. And honestly, this city is beautiful. Our companions were waiting for us at the bus station. My companion is Elder C. Super cool kid. He is from the jungle of Peru. I look giant next to him. I can already tell that this is going to be a super fun transfer for me. He is super obedient, but he loves to joke around and laugh. Something that I am going to love! I'm so grateful that Elder C and I have the lower part of Paita. We get to wake up every morning and look out at the beautiful ocean. I'm so excited to get to know this area and to work hard here in Paita!

Me and my new companion in Paita.

View of the ocean from my room! It's so beautiful here!

I'm so grateful to be a missionary here in PERU! I'm excited to get to know the people here in Paita and to share the gospel with them. I know the church is true. No doubt have I. I'm so grateful to be a missionary!

Love you guys! Thanks for all the love and support!

Elder Baker

P.S.

Here in Paita it is still hot. But it's okay though, because we get to look at the ocean. I can see the ocean from my bed. And the people say that here there aren't many mosquitos. Which is one thing I am so happy about. Mosquitos son del diablo. Thank goodness the missionaries are safe in the Philippines. The Lord definitely is watching over His missionaries...

Lauren, I'm already in my second area. I said that I didn't want to get transferred before Christmas too, but it didn't work for me. I'm okay with it. I'm in paradise. I can see the ocean from my bed! I love being a missionary. Missions are the best things ever. And I get to go hear from an apostle this week in Chiclayo! Super cool! Church is true. Tell it. So grateful to be serving at the same time as you! Have a great week!

"Ciudad de Eterno Calor" - 11/11/13

Hola familia! Como esta?? I had a great week this past week. I'm so grateful to be here on a mission. So cool! I love Peru too!

This city is so dang hot. There is a reason there is a giant wall downtown that says [city of eternal heat]. Holy moly. I've never felt this hot in my life. And I love it. 

 

My sweaty back one morning before lunch--before the hot part of the day.

El Centro de Piura

Tuesday was a pretty good day. Except for one thing. Over the past 3 days I had accumulated over 30 mosquito bites all over my body. Holy moly, I was going to die. I learned a lot about will power though. I have to be stronger than the urge to scratch them. I'm a pretty strong person. I made it through some times without scratching that I didn't think were possible. Tuesday night we had the first activity of the week leading up to Ward Conference. It was an open house in the church. Every organization had a room with a little display set up and we invited tons of people to come and see what kind of things we do in the church. It was a super great activity. Really great turnout too! I was super happy with the way it ended up!

Wednesday was a great day. Wednesday morning during personal study I just read the Book of Mormon. I love the Book of Mormon. It really is the best book on earth. I have been reading it in Spanish and English. Right now I am at the part in Alma when Moroni raises the Title of Liberty. I love what the Title of Liberty stands for. Defending their families, freedom, and religion. Time flies while reading the Book of Mormon. I remember when I was a little kid and every day when I had to read for 30 minutes I thought I was literally going to die. And now an hour reading flies by in what seems like 2 minutes. I love reading. I honestly wish we had more time to just read. When I started reading the Book of Mormon in Spanish I honestly couldn't understand much. But now I can understand a lot of it. Pretty cool seeing how far my abilities have come in just my little time here in Peru.

Wednesday night the activity the ward had was a movie night at the church. As missionaries we weren't really able to participate but we definitely stopped by and got some popcorn. That was definitely a great treat. Haven't had that much here. But there were a ton of people that came to the movie—probably 50-75 people. 

Thursday I decided that attitude really is everything out here on the mission. There are always bad parts of every day. But no matter how bad it seems, there is always good too. And the good always makes up for what was bad. Attitude really is everything. You can be angry when someone doesn't accept the gospel or you can still love them because they are still a child of God. You can get mad and be in a bad mood when you step in dog poop, or you can laugh and literally "walk it off," which is a whole lot easier than being mad. Turns out you can still enjoy things that aren't optimal. 

Thursday afternoon was one of the best afternoons that my companion and I have had in our 11 weeks here. We had 5 lessons in just 3 hours from 3:00 until 6:00. That's crazy. Usually we have 2, maybe 3, or 4 if we are lucky; but we had 5 meaningful lessons in just 3 hours. I love working hard. I love it even more when you have success like that from all of your hard work. It was a great afternoon. We visited a sister who is still looking forward to being baptized on the 23rd of this month. I'm super excited for her. She's ready to be baptized.

After the 5 lessons, we headed back to our room so we could change clothes and head over to the church for the activity that they were having that day. OLIMPIADAS! Super duper fun. That night all of the ward got together at the church to play volleyball and soccer under the lights. Super fun activity. We had like 5 people who are not members show up too that we invited! It was a super great activity. Super happy with how it turned out.

Friday. Friday went by so fast. In the morning my companion had to go to the dermatologist and that took forever. There were like 50 people in the waiting room waiting to see a doctor. Thank goodness I had a Liahona to read and pass the time. After the dermatologist we went and ate with his old pensionista from when he was in the office because the clinic is right by the office. Right after we ate we went over to the mission office because my companion had a call with someone in Lima. Pretty fun being in the office that day. And, I got the letter you guys sent for Halloween. Even though it was a week late, I still enjoyed it a lot! :) 

Friday night in the church they had a fiesta from 9 until 1 in the morning and I heard that the whole ward was there. We weren't there though. Because those hours are some of my favorite to sleep. The party said that it was supposed to start at like 7 but to Peruvians that means 9. Literally no one comes on time to anything. Including sacrament meeting! And it drives me absolutely crazy!! I hate being late to things! I love the people here though. They're all amazing.

Saturday morning my companion and I had our weekly planning session for our last week of this transfer. It is crazy to think that this is my 12th week with Elder C. It honestly seems like I just got here. My training has flown by. I remember my first weekly planning session when I helped with absolutely nothing because I could understand nothing. It would be hard to train a gringo. I'm definitely grateful for Elder C and for the patience that he has had with me. 

Saturday afternoon we had a priesthood meeting for ward conference with the stake presidency. After the meeting we all went out to invite different less active families to ward conference the next morning. We got to go with the Bishop and the Stake President. Bishop wanted to visit a family that we had already visited earlier in the day. Elder C and I were kind of hesitant at first but we felt like we should still visit this family. We ended up having a super spiritual lesson with that family and talked about the power of the Priesthood that is in their home. Super cool experience. After visits we came back to the church and had these chicken sandwiches that were super good. I loved them.

Sunday was Ward Conference and there were about 250 people that came. That's a ton of people for one ward in Piura! It was super cool. The stake presidency talked about the importance of missionary work. It seems like every time we meet lately they are always talking about "La obra de salvación" [the work of salvation] which is super cool because it is making all these people excited to help us with the missionary work here in the ward. The Lord is definitely hastening his work.

I am so grateful to be a missionary here in this ward and in Piura. I love it here. I love the gospel. With all my heart. Because I know that it is true. I know that we have a Father in Heaven who loves us more than we know. I know the Book of Mormon is true. I know that we can live with those we love in the presence of our Heavenly Father after this life because of the gospel. I know that the Church is true.

Thanks for all of the love and support. Love you guys!

Elder Baker

P.S.

Just to let you know. I would kill to be raking leaves in 60 degrees. Right now it’s 30,000,000,000 degrees.

My testimony has been strengthened immensely this past year. I like working with less actives too. It's true. They have a testimony. You just have to help them find it again. I love seeing less actives come to church on Sunday!

Lauren, Sounds like you had a nice picnic. I would dig a nice picnic on the grass in the nice weather. Here, I could eat a picnic on the million degree sand....Love you! Missions are the best! I'm super happy to be serving at the same time as you! Keep working hard! Love you!

Fasting is a blessing - 11/4/13

NOTE: This letter was right after Elder Baker had received word that his beloved Red Sox won the World Series!

November!!! Holy moly. Where has all this time gone???

First off. RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX... I honestly don't have anything else to say....

Second off. I was looking at my deodorant this week and I noticed that it says 48 hour protection. So this week I started showering every other day. It's super nice to wake up in the morning and not have to shower. And plus I figure that it is a way I can save money by not having to buy as much shampoo. haha Just kidding. That would be disgusting. I sweat so much here. Even though it says 48 hour protection I'm pretty sure that it doesn't even last 6 hours until lunchtime. And plus, I love showering. Even though the water is temperature ice, I love it. One of the best parts of the day. I hate feeling dirty. Something I feel a lot here.

This week was a great week. Wednesday went really well. We had another lesson with a less active member. We have been teaching her a lot lately. When we started teaching her, she hadn't gone to church in years and had a lot of questions and didn't have much desire to come to church. And now she comes to church every week and wants to be more involved in all of the activities in the church. Wednesday night was freezing. No clue why. During the day it was 97 degrees. 97 degrees--and you guys are having snow right now. But that night it was freezing. It reminds me of being in the mountains camping where it would be warm during the day but freezing at night. Thank goodness for the blanket on my bed or I would have died. We got a call from the APs saying that we need to be looking for another room in our ward. Our room right now is for 4 missionaries but only 2 of us are living here right now. It's pretty expensive for just 2 people. We went out and looked but we were unsuccessful. There are no rooms anywhere in our ward that we could rent. We are still looking though.

Thursday was Halloween. The people here don't really celebrate Halloween. They have posters everywhere that say Halloween but they don't do anything for it. Well actually they do one thing. They go around telling people happy birthday. I don't quite understand it. Isn't that something that you would do on April Fools day?? whatever though. We had a zone meeting Thursday morning which was pretty cool. We ended up getting some news that I'm super excited about. On the 20th of this month all of the missionaries in my mission get to go to Chiclayo to hear from Elder Russell M. Nelson! I'm super duper excited! It's going to be our mission and mission Chiclayo. Chiclayo is like 3 hours away from here. I'm super excited to be able to hear from an apostle again in person. Second time of my mission! 

Thursday night we went to the part of the ward that is like a million miles away from our apartment. It is where the lake is. The sun was just setting over the lake and it was super duper duper duper pretty. Probably one of the best things that I have seen in Peru so far. Definitely one of the things that makes you grateful that we have this beautiful world to live in.

Friday was November. Is it just me or did this month go by in what seemed like 3 days? Friday was a holiday here in Peru, so tons of people didn't have work. When people don't have work they start to drink. And when people start to drink on Friday, they keep drinking on Saturday, and keep drinking on Sunday, and continue on into Monday. Lots of drinking. The mission manual says that holidays are a great time to find people because people are home, but I really don't like the idea of going up and trying to teach someone who is drinking their 5th bottle of beer. Glad that weekend is behind us.

Friday we did have a really great lesson with Hermana Luciana. She has been wanting to be baptized but she had to be married first before she could be baptized. Turns out that she is going to be married on the 21st of this month! And she wants to be baptized on the 23rd! I'm super excited for her and for her decision to be baptized. She lived in the area of Lopez Albujar 2, so when the new missionaries get to our ward on the 19th of this month, they are going to have a baptism in their first week! What luck for them right! It's okay though. I really don't care about the number. I just want her to be baptized!

Saturday. Every weekend we eat with members. On Saturday we went to the house we were supposed to eat with and knocked on his door and he had completely forgotten. He felt really bad and took us in his taxi to a little food stand on the side of the road in a different ward to eat. The food stand is actually the business of the Bishop of that ward, so it was kind of fun going there. The food was super duper good too. First time I have eaten fried chicken here in Peru. Best meal I have eaten here. By far!

Sunday was Fast Sunday. I love Sundays. Especially Fast Sunday. Fasting isn't horrible to me like I used to think it was. Fasting is a blessing. D&C 59:14. Fasting is rejoicing. There are always a ton of people that want to bear their testimonies in sacrament meeting here. It's super cool. I love these people. Their faith is so strong. I love how the gospel is the same even though it is in a different language. And it's cool to think that the same message is taught throughout the world with tons of different languages. Sunday afternoon we went and visited those that were not able to come to church that we are teaching. We feel like it is important to make them feel like they were missed and let them know that we want them at church with us.

This coming week is the Ward Conference of this ward so there are going to be activities every day this week at the church leading up to the conference. Hopefully it will be a great way to invite investigators and less actives to come and get involved in the church. I'm super excited for this week. It's going to be a great week.

Today we went to Kurt Beer Park again for our zone activity. Pretty much the exact same thing as last time. It's pretty much the only place that we can go. It's pretty fun there. We played soccer and some other games. Our zone this transfer is combined with another one because we are lacking missionaries this transfer, but the following transfer there should be more. It was a pretty fun day. Fun to be able to relax and talk with other missionaries.

 

Me with a giant skull on the side of the road today!

Our Zone. With 2 members from here in Piura.

I'm so grateful to be a missionary. I receive so many blessings every single day. I'm so grateful for my testimony of the gospel. I know this church is true. I'm so grateful that I get to testify of the truth of the gospel every single day. It is a great time to be a missionary!

Love you all!

Elder Baker

McKay, RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX. I'm so jealous that you got to watch that. That's soooooooo cool. I love the Red Sox. A lot.

Lauren, Yes. I'm pretty upset and ridiculously happy about the Red Sox. I'm pretty jealous of your trunk or treat. It's okay though, because I'm not here to celebrate Halloween. I have way more important things to think about. How is the weather in Melbourne? 97 degrees here. Me gusta sudar.... hahahahaha Love you! Have a great week! Work hard!

 

It's pretty cold here in Peru....