Jaja.
This last week was a week of reflection, a week of challenges, a week of joys.
A week of laughing. A good week it sure was.
Last
Monday we went to Yacila for p-day and after we came back we went and had a
Family Home Evening with the Tito Family. The whole night was going perfect.
The lesson was great. And then they served us a little dessert and juice. I
drank the juice which was super good but as I went to set the glass down it
tipped over and shattered. jajajajaja. I felt so stupid. Luckily the family is
a family that has means and they didn't seem to care much. jajaja. But yeah, that
was a pretty great way to start off the week.
Tuesday
was a good day. I was able to print out all the pictures that you had sent me
to get my family history book ready. Honestly I'm super interested in family
history right now! It's pretty cool learning about your ancestors! Before the
mission I honestly had a bad attitude about family history. I thought family
history was just names and dates. But it is really so much more than that. It
is stories, memories and lives! And it's pretty cool to learn about those who
you come after!
Another
great part about Tuesday was when we had ward council. It was the first one
with the new branch presidency here in Puerto Paita! And it went super well! I
can already tell that it's going to be great working with this new presidency.
It used to be that in ward council people would present problems and then
everyone would try to find the one guilty of the problem. But on Tuesday when
someone presented a problem, they didn't worry about who was to blame, but they
looked for a way to solve the problem! That was so cool! That is really what
ward council is for! To really be able to help strengthen the ward! Or in this
case, the branch.
Wednesday
was a pretty rough day. We walked the entire day and talked to a million people
with absolutely no results. One of the days when it's hard to not get
discouraged. When I have days like that I start to be pretty hard on myself.
Thursday
was a good day. We had interviews with President Rowley! Interviews are great!
Some people are scared of interviews. I have no clue why though! It's super
great being able to have an interview with your mission president. We showed up
for our interviews at 12:30 but we ended up having to wait about an hour
because it was pretty backed up. It was pretty fun because we got to talk to
some of the other missionaries that were waiting. A little after 1:30 we
finally got to have our interviews. And it went super great! One thing I love
about President Rowley is that after talking to him it is impossible to not be
motivated about missionary work! I really love President Rowley! I have no
doubt that he is someone that has been chosen by our Heavenly Father to help
lead this mission!
Thursday
night we went and had a pretty sweet lesson with Hermano Arturo Tavara. We were
able to talk about the restoration with him and his wife! The lesson was super
spiritual and went super duper well! We have another appointment to go and
teach them this week! Having lessons like that make all the hard parts of the
mission worth it! I love being able to teach people and being able to feel the
spirit! Every time it strengthens my own testimony! I love being a missionary!
Friday
morning we had a zone conference! It was super great! It was pretty long,
almost 3 hours, but it was super great and I learned a ton. We talked a lot
about first lessons with an investigator. Honestly the first lesson and the
first moments with an investigator are so important. It sets off the whole
relationship that you are going to have with an investigator. After the zone
conference we got mail! I love getting mail. Nothing makes missionaries happier
than letters. I got the envelope that you guys sent me with the talks, which
was super great! And I got letters from Grandma and Grandpa Twitchell, Grandpa
Baker, and Lauren for my birthday! Right after getting the letters we went to
eat lunch at our pensionistas. I was sitting at the table and opened the letter
from Lauren and it says. "Birthdays are like boogers. The more you have
it's harder to breathe!" jajajajajajajajajajajajajajaja. I almost died of
laughing! Everyone was staring at me thinking I was stupid but I didn't even
care! That card gave me a good laugh. All the letters were great though! That
made it a great day!
Sunday
was a beautiful day! Yesterday we went in the morning to go remind our
investigators to come to church and I was just sitting and staring at the ocean
and thinking about how beautiful of a morning it was! It was one of the times
where you just sit and marvel at all of God´s creations! I am so blessed!
When we
got to church, with about 5 minutes before Sacrament meeting, President Carillo
came up to me and asked me if I could speak in Sacrament meeting. jaja. I was
thinking back to the time in Lopez Albujar when that happened to me and I was
scared out of my mind when I only had about a month in the mission field. It
wasn't that big of a deal yesterday though! I kind of actually enjoyed it!
haha. I have learned a ton on the mission. And I have grown a ton! I wouldn't
trade this experience for anything!
Today
for p-day we went to this place called La Huaca. It's like 30 minutes from
Paita. And it was super cool because everything is actually green! I'm so used
to just seeing everything brown. Here there is just dirt. It was super nice
seeing bushes and trees and grass! We went to this mammoth museum or something.
I'm not really sure what it was. Pretty cool though. And then we went to this
giant river and played some games! After that we had a super cool testimony
meeting with our whole zone! That was super cool! It is so cool to hear the
testimonies of the other missionaries here in Paita! It helped me strengthen my
testimony a ton!
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| Insides of the mini-church replica |
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| Me and my companion |
I'm so
grateful to be here on the mission! I know this church is true! And I know that
Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer! I'm so grateful for the opportunity
that I have to share my testimony with these people every day! Love you guys!
Thanks for all the love and support!
Elder
Baker
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