All of us have a gift ... and we can develop others! 11/3/14

3 de Noviembre 2014

Hey guys! How goes it. Things are going pretty well here in Sullana. And do you guys have any ideas how I can start emails so that they are a little different each week? Because I swear I start with the same thing every single time. I have that problem writing in my journal too..... jaja. Life can be hard sometimes...

Sanchez Cerro is great! But for real, I love being here in this area. For sure one of my favorite areas so far of the mission! 

This week started off pretty exciting. On Tuesday morning I had to travel to Piura for the district leader training meeting with Elder P and Elder T, two elders from my group. Honestly I'm so glad that I'm here in their district. Because they are both super sweet people! It was super fun traveling to Piura with them. Even though we're not supposed to speak English, we did, and it was soooooo nice! Not gonna lie, laughing is good in Spanish, but it's so much better in English!

Our group at the training meeting!

 The training was super sweet! We talked a ton about spiritual gifts that we have and that we can receive if we live worthy of and seek after them. It was kind of cool. I have always heard a lot about them, but to tell you the truth, that was a topic that I had never really studied in depth. But since that day, I have been studying it a lot. Moroni 10 has new meaning. Do you know how cool it would be to have every spiritual gift that it mentions in that chapter? I would be a superman missionary! But the good news is that I have some of them! All of us have a gift that we have been given. And we can develop others! 

We ate at Papa Johns for lunch. That was super good. And then after it was all over we had to travel back to Sullana! And wanna know something cool! We came back in Eppo which is a bus company and there were some Australians on the bus! No joke! We went up and started to talk to them and they talked to us for about 15 minutes while we were waiting for the bus. They are from Perth. And they are here to visit Mancora which is a super famous beach here in Peru, but supposedly it's a wicked beach with lots of iniquidad, so we don't visit it here. But anyway, wanna know something funny?? While I was talking to them, I started to speak in Spanish without realizing it and then after a few seconds I realized that they had no clue what I was saying and they were looking at me like I was stupid. jajaja. Going back to the states is going to be rough! 

So right now we have been teaching a kid named P G (who is 13 years old) for about 2 months. His mom is a less active member and his dad is super Catholic. We are working with P and his mom though. He is super sweet. He is reading the Book of Mormon every day, he goes to church for all three hours every single week, he participates in all the activities of the young men, he has completed his book about his family history, and he has plans to serve a mission! The only problem is that his dad is Catholic and didn't want to give him permission to be baptized! But we have all been praying tons for him in the ward and the young men had a special fast for him, and guess what? Our loving Heavenly Father always answers our prayers! We had a super sweet lesson with the family and his dad told him that he can be baptized within this next month! YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He's super sweet. And we are going to continue working with the family. Because we want his father to be a member too!

This weekend we had exchanges with the zone leaders! Which was super fun! Elder A came to my area with my companion and I went to their area with Elder B. Being with Latinos is good, but being with a gringo (Elder Bradley) was nice for a change too. That was probably one of the funnest exchanges of my entire mission. And we worked like crazy! I can't tell you how many heads we turned in the street and how many people said things to us like "Heylow watt ees yo neym". I'm pretty sure it was the first time that they have seen two white people together in their entire life! But it was great. We walked around all day and when we were walking in the street we would talk about how cool it is living here in South America. I really actually like some things about living here, but there are also tons of things that are hard too. They work a ton, but many spend money that they don't have on beer. So many of these people really hardly have anything, but they still spend tons of money each weekend drinking with their friends. 

This week was fast and testimony meeting. I love fast and testimony meeting here in Peru. There is never time for everyone to bear their testimony that wants to. And it's not like they give long stories in their testimonies, their testimonies are short and powerful. It's super great to have investigators present in those meetings, because the spirit is so strong! 

This last week I have been thinking a lot. Especially because we're now into November. I don't want the mission to end. Every day it feels like it's getting closer and closer. And I don't want it to come. I love being a missionary! There is nowhere else I would rather be. And nothing else that I would rather be doing. I'm so grateful for this opportunity! Thanks a ton for always supporting me! I couldn't do it without you guys! Being a missionary isn't easy, but it's the best decision that I have ever made!

Love you guys to the moon and back! 

Elder Baker

P.S.

Halloween pretty much doesn't exist here. On Halloween everyone says, "Hoy es Halloween!" But that's it. They don't dress up, they don't have parties, there is no candy. It's pretty lame..... 

And, don't complain about the cold. I would easily pay 10 bucks to feel cold for 5 minutes.