August 13, 2013
What's up? The sun? Cause it's not here in Perú. I miss seeing
the sun so much. Not like I would stare at the sun back in Utah or anything but
I just miss its presence. Here in Lima it is always cloudy. Like literally all
day long. There has been maybe 3 or 4 days here that you have been able to see
the sun and even on those days it's still super overcast. But everything is
going well here. I have almost been here a full month! All of the advanced kids
left this morning which makes the 3 districts that came in with me, the big
kids on the block. All the new kids always come up to you and ask "Does
the Spanish get any easier?" but I always tell them no. It is really so
hard. Understanding it is okay and I understand the rules when the people teach
them, but I have no clue how to apply them and to form sentences on my own. I
figure it will just come with practice and a lot of exposure to it, so I guess
I will just wait. Not much else I can do.
This past week went pretty well. I run out of things to talk
about because there really isn't that much happening. It is the same schedule
every day. Wake up, breakfast, classes, lunch, personal study, physical
activity, classes, dinner, classes, bed time. Over and over and over and over
and over. But it's okay though. I can handle 2 more weeks of it. And as boring
as it is, it really is helping prepare me for the mission field. I've decided
that you can either hate your time in the MTC or love it so I have chosen to
love it and look for the exciting things that are happening. The days that are
pretty fun are P-day and sometimes Saturday when you get to go out
proselyting.
Last Thursday was not the best day of the mission. At about 4:30
pm my stomach started to kill and it felt horrible. It was so bad that I
spent from like 6:00 pm on Thursday until 6:30 am on Friday morning curled up
in my bed. Thursday night Elder Strong and Elder Schouten were able to give me
a blessing which was super nice. It is so nice being surrounded by so many
worthy priesthood holders who can give blessings and perform priesthood ordinances.
It made it even that much better that one of them was able to be my cousin. I
don't know what I had but I sure feel better now. A few other Elders in my
District felt the same way that night. Something was going around the MTC for
sure because there were about 20 people sick. It's times like those that make
you really appreciate the times of good health though.
On Saturday we were able to leave and go proselyting. This time
it was sooooooooooo much easier to understand people. Not saying that I could
understand what people were saying, because I couldn't, but I could at least
pick out a ton of words that I knew in Spanish. That was super nice for me
because even though it wasn't easy and I still couldn't follow conversations,
it was miles better from the last time I went out. I didn't get a Latino
companion for proselyting this time so it was my companion and me and then one
of the CCM teachers tagged along to help us. We would have been in deep trouble
were it not for him. Nothing really crazy happened this time. I didn't get to
ride a bus full of Latinos or get slapped by a drunk guy, but it was still
super cool. While we were out we ran into this guy named Jimmy. He told us that
he wanted us to come to his house so he could talk to us, so we followed him to
his house which was one of the nicer places I have seen. He told us that about
5 years ago he had met with the Elders while half of his face was paralyzed.
They gave him a blessing and he started to get better and ended up getting
baptized. He told us that even though he had a strong testimony that the gospel
was true, he had started to fall away and stop going to church. He said that it
had been a couple of years since he had been to church but would like to come
back. He had just moved to the area so we were able to show him where the
church was. After that, we were able to share some scriptures with him and
I was able to bear my testimony because that is one of the few things that I
know how to do. You could feel the spirit super strongly and he was almost in
tears. When we were leaving he kept on thanking us over and over again. I
would be super surprised if I found out that he did not go to church on Sunday.
It was super cool to be able to see missionary work in real life. It was the first
real person that I feel I was able to help come closer to Christ in Perú. I
love being a missionary and I know that it is the best thing I could be doing
right now.
On Sunday we watched this DVD of a devotional Elder Holland gave
at the Provo MTC sometime last year. You have to love Elder Holland. He has a
point to share and he's not going to beat around the bush before he tells you.
I love how he can talk loudly at you at the pulpit and still bring the spirit.
Not many people can do that. He talked about how important being a missionary
is and how you have to take advantage of the opportunities that you get here
because you are never going to get another chance to devote your whole life to
spreading the gospel ever again. It was by far the best part of Sunday.
Last night we had to say goodbye to those who left this morning
to go to their missions. I had become pretty good friends with some of them but
it was exciting to see them go. One cool thing being here in Perú and not in
Provo is that you get to know practically everyone here. Crazy to think that in
two weeks it's going to be me that is the one saying farewell to Lima. I'm so
excited to get to Piura and be able to go proselyting every single day!
This morning was P-day so we got up at 6 to do our laundry
before everyone else gets to the washing machines. It is so nice to get yours
done very first so you don't have to fight people the whole time for the
washers and dryers and irons (which don't really work). Doing laundry is a
hassle here. It'd better be better out in the field. After that we were able to
go to the Temple. The Temple had been closed for cleaning the last two weeks so
it was super duper duper nice to be able to go back. I love the Temple and the
feeling that you get. One cool thing that I can say is that half of the Temples
I have been to have been outside of the United States. haha. After that we were
able to go to the Distribution center and then go get some things that people
needed at Metro which is just another grocery store by the temple.
Is McKay still taking piano lessons? How old was I when I quit?
Cause it would be super nice if I would have played longer. The missionaries
who can play the hymns are the best. Music is one of the things I miss
most.
I love reading Lauren’s letters every week. It's so cool to have
a sibling serving at the same time as you. I tell all the Latinos I have a
sister serving in Australia and they think it's the coolest thing ever.
You're so lucky that you get to watch BYU Football this year. I
will definitely miss that here in Perú. I don't think the people here even know
what American Football is. The only sports they know of are Futból and
Volleyball. Literally. Those are the only sports I have seen played here.
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| Elder Baker and Companion |
The Church is True! I love the Gospel! And I love
being a Missionary! I love you all and thanks for the Support!
Love, Elder Baker
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