Probably the best way to teach others is by example... - 3/9/15

9 de Marzo 2015

Once again, another week in the Mision Peru Tumbes has flown by... jajaja. But for real. Time is going by so fast! And I'm probably not going to have tons of time to write today because this morning we played ultimate frisbee on the beach for like 3 hours. So I'm pretty burnt, but honestly it was one of the most fun p-days that I've ever had! 

P-day playing ultimate frisbee on the beach.

Bridge crossing the river Tumbes

This last week was sweet! So on Tuesday we had to travel to Piura. We had to travel in the morning, and we traveled in El Dorado. Not the most comfortable bus ever, but we arrived to Piura! So that's what really matters! We went over to the mission office and met up with the Assistants and then for the afternoon we went on splits with the Assistants in their area. I was with Elder P so that was super cool. It was fun working with him again! Something crazy happened! Definitely a first of the mission. And I'm almost certain a last as well. We went over to his ward mission leader's house. He is a chiropractor (or however you spell that) and we started talking with him and he looks at me and says, "Your posture isn't the greatest. But I can fix it with 15 minutes of therapy. Do you want therapy?" So I said yes. Not entirely sure what I was thinking, but he made me take off my tie and made me lay down on the therapy table and started cracking my back, putting my body in positions that I didn't even know were possible. Honestly everything he did hurt so badly. But after 20 minutes he finished and says to me, "Now how do you feel?" And I thought about it and absolutely nothing in my body was sore or hurting at all, and I felt super peaceful. It was crazy! That 300 lb. Peruvian works miracles! jajaja. That was pretty cool.

 

On the bus heading to Piura

Me and my companion at the mission home

Wednesday was our leaders council in the mission home! That was super cool because honestly tons of people there were from my group. There were only 28 people there. And of those 28, 12 of them finish with my group! So there are tons of good friends there! The meeting was super great. President talked to us about what it means to be a leader. We, as leaders in the mission, have a big role in whether or not this mission is going to have success! We talked about the importance of a good example. Probably the best way to teach others is by example. But you have to be an example in every moment possible. Not just in some instances. We also talked about the importance of working together with members. And also about the importance of the Book of Mormon in missionary work! It was a super great conference! And for lunch we ate lasagna so that was sweet! Anything that doesn't have rice is amazing! And then after the conference we had to travel back to Tumbes. Traveling isn't the most fun thing ever. Six hours on buses without air conditioning are rough... but we made it back by 10:30. Hopefully that's the last time that I have to travel until April! 

 

With all the elders from my intake group!

The rest of the week went by super fast. We had our zone meeting on Friday. I used to always look forward to the zone meetings. But as a zone leader, they are a little bit more stressful because we are the ones that have to teach them. But it turned out great! It was actually kind of fun being able to teach the zone meeting. Our zone here is super great! It's super cool being able to work here in Tumbes. The Church here isn't as strong as it is in Piura, but we have this giant blessing of being able to help it grow! 

It's been raining a ton here in Tumbes. There have been lots of times when we have been out in the streets and it starts to downpour so we find somewhere to stand out of the rain for a few minutes until it passes. I kind of like it though! It's something that hardly ever happened in Piura! My favorite part though is that after it rains tons of giant frogs come out and are jumping all around in the street. It makes me laugh! ;) The bad part is that it makes it more humid so it feels hotter. And when it is more humid more mosquitoes come out. Right now there are tons of mosquitoes. I have like 25 bites right now on my ankles. They always bite me through my socks. But I'm going to start wrapping my ankles in ace bandages before going out to work so that they don't bite me! jajajajaja. PERU PROBLEMS.... 

J C has been passing through this difficult time, but he is determined to stay active in the church! He really is an amazing man! 

My companion and I don't really have many great investigators right now. We have a few that are kind of interested, but not any super promising investigators. Honestly Tumbes can be pretty hard. But my companion and I are sure that this next week we are going to be able to find some new people to teach!

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

Elder Baker