In Piura, the people used to have to travel 18 hours by bus to Lima to be able to go to the temple! But now they are going to have a temple just 6 hours away! - 04/13/15

13 de Abril 2015

Hey guys! 

Well here I am again! Time is passing by super quickly!

First off, last week I told you guys that I'm dealing with a parasite. Giardia. It kind of stinks. I took some medications that were supposed to take care of it, but they didn't help me all that much. So I'm still kind of sick. So that's kind of a bummer. I'm doing okay though! I'm going to do more tests today. And we'll see what happens with that. I'm praying a lot. Because I'm super sick of it! But to tell you the truth, the absolute worst part is that it makes it kind of hard to go out and work because I feel sick a lot and if I don't feel sick, it comes and hits me like a ton of bricks and I'm desperately searching for a bathroom. It's kind of complicated. But I'm doing fine! Don't worry too much! Just another one of the tests that our loving Heavenly Father puts in our lives. It's not because He wants to punish us. It's because He loves us and He wants us to get better! And believe it or not, there are lots of positive things that I have learned from this! 

This last week went by super fast. Tuesday we were in the apartment pretty much all day because I wasn't feeling too swell. And then on Wednesday morning we had to travel to Piura because Thursday was our Leaders Conference in the mission home! We got to Piura at about 12:30 and went and ate lunch with the office elders and their pensionista. And then for the afternoon we got to go out and work with the zone leaders in Miraflores. That afternoon was super fun! It made me miss Piura though. I have only been in Piura, Piura for like 3 months of the mission. All the rest of it has been outside of Piura. But there is something special about being in Piura! It feels like coming home every time you enter! It was super fun working that day in Piura! 

Thursday morning at 9:00 our Leaders Conference started. That was super great! I always do love those training meetings with President Rowley! He teaches in such a cool way. You are always able to feel the spirit super strongly in those meetings and always leave feeling uplifted! One of the things we talked about was what having faith in Jesus Christ really means. If you ask yourself "Do I have faith in Jesus Christ?" it's pretty easy to say yes, right??  But then if you read what Preach my Gospel says about faith, it helps you realize that there are lots of ways that our faith can improve. Maybe we really do have faith! But that faith can always be stronger. So my goal right now is to strengthen my faith in Jesus Christ. There are lots of little things that I can be doing to strengthen my faith! And now in this little time that I have left as a missionary, it's time to get to work! I have to take advantage of every moment I have here as a missionary! 

After the meeting we had to travel to the mission office to pick up some stuff for the zone here in Tumbes. And then we had to travel to the bus station to travel back to Tumbes. Our bus left Piura at about 5:30 and didn't get to Tumbes until about 11:00 that night. I was so excited when it was finally time to go to sleep! It honestly felt like that bus ride lasted forever! But we finally made it! 

Friday we had our zone meeting with our entire zone. We didn't have much time to plan the meeting because we got back so late on Thursday, but it turned out super well! It was really guided by the spirit! It's kind of fun being able to teach the zone meetings with your companion! We taught the zone about everything that we had learned in the leaders’ meeting. It was a pretty fun morning! 

Friday afternoon and pretty much all of Saturday I was feeling pretty crappy. That was kind of a bummer. But Saturday night we had to go over to the stake center for the Saturday night session of Stake conference! President Rowley and Hermana Rowley came, as well as the Guayaquil Temple President and his wife. The conference on Saturday night and on Sunday morning was super good! I liked it a lot. They talked a lot about the Temple. It made me miss the temple so much! It really is such a blessing living so close to so many temples. I haven't been to the temple since August 2013. That's one of the things that I'm super excited about once I finish the mission! Being able to go to the temple again! I'm super happy for the people here in this mission though because in June they are going to be dedicating the Trujillo, Peru temple which will be a huge blessing for the people! In Piura, the people used to have to travel 18 hours by bus to Lima to be able to go to the temple! But now they are going to have a temple just 6 hours away! It's going to be such a huge blessing for the people here in Peru!

Sunday afternoon I was feeling pretty good so we got to go out and work the entire afternoon! Even though it sounds like something super small, it was such a blessing. I miss being able to feel good and just be able to go out and work! I hope this next week I will be feeling a whole lot better! Because I want to go and teach people about the gospel! I'm so grateful for the opportunity to be a missionary!

Thanks for all the love and support! 

Elder Baker

...turns out that I have Giardia...being sick like this is the worst! - 04/06/15

6 de Abril 2015

Well we are already into April and time is flying by like always! Transfers were today. My companion and I are both staying here in this area. And it is the last transfer of the mission for my companion. So that means that I am going to be his last companion. I'm pretty excited about that! But since we are zone leaders we had to spend pretty much all of today taking care of transfer things because tons of missionaries in the zone had to travel so we had to make sure they left on time and we had to go pick up all of the new missionaries that got here! It was a fun day though! 

Well this last week wasn't the best week of the mission. Want to know why? Because this last week my companion and I were sick. Well first it was my companion. On Tuesday he said that he wasn't feeling too well. So we headed back to the apartment and he spent most of the afternoon sleeping. And at about 9:30 that night he woke up to go to the bathroom to throw up. So I'm sure that wasn't the most fun thing. Wednesday he still wasn't feeling too well. But by the end of the day he was feeling a lot better and so we were able to go and work a little bit. 

That night we started exchanges with Elder C and Elder R who are in Corrales. So, Elder M went to their apartment and I stayed in my area with Elder C. That night though, I couldn't sleep. No matter what position I was in I couldn't fall asleep. And then at about midnight I finally got up from my bed and went into the bathroom and had horrible diarrhea. It was horrible. And in the morning I woke up still with diarrhea. It was horrible. Honestly to tell you the truth, for the last 2-3 months I have been sick almost every single week like that. So I decided that something wasn't right so I decided to call Hermana Rowley. She told me that it was likely that I had a parasite in my stomach. So that means that I had to take stool samples to a laboratory and have them test them for a parasite. That kind of stunk! But what are you gonna do!?!? jaja. And it turns out that I have Giardia. I have no clue how I got it or when, but it's what I have. Hermana Rowley said that it's not uncommon and that there have been several other cases in the mission with it right now. But I took some pills that supposedly help with it. I sure hope so! Because being sick like this is the worst! 

 

Exchanges with Elder C

So that pretty much took up our whole week until the conference. We were able to do a little, but not much. Conference was the best though!!

I can hardly believe that that was my last general conference of the mission. It is such a blessing to be able to listen to the prophets every 6 months! And luckily my companion and I were both feeling better by Saturday to watch the conference peacefully! I honestly loved conference so much! Elder Ballard's talk in Priesthood session was the best! But the whole thing was great! I am so excited to get the Liahona to be able to read all of the talks again! It was exactly what I was needing! It was super motivational for me! It was the spiritual highlight to a super stressful, crappy week! 

 

With Elder R following General Conference

I'm super excited for this next transfer though! I'm sure that it's going to be great! I love being a missionary. Even though it's not always easy, it's super great. There is never going to be another opportunity like this in my life! I have to make the most of it! 

Thanks for all the love and support! Love you tons! The church is true! No doubt about it! 

Elder Baker! 

...with all the rain that is coming that means that the number of giant frogs in the streets is going up as well... 3/30/15

30 de Marzo 2015

Holy Moly. I really can't believe that March is already over. It has gone by so quickly! This last week was very interesting.

P-day today playing soccer in a stadium here in Tumbes. Soccer is pretty fun!

 So first off. It is still rainy season in Tumbes. It's actually quite dangerous for lots of people here. Because it has rained so much that the people say that there is danger that the river is going to overflow which would mean that all of the lower parts of the city will be under water. And all of my area would be submerged in water. But luckily my apartment isn't in the lower part and I live on a giant hill so there isn't any danger of that in my apartment. It's crazy how much it is raining though! There are tons of parts of Tumbes without water right now. Last week we got our water back for 4 days and then because of the rain it has gone again. So we now have like 3 days without water. Pretty cool, no??? But don't worry too much. We are bringing buckets of water to our apartments from the other elders that live in other parts that do have water. So we are still going to be able to bathe. Just out of a bucket! BLESSINGS! ;)

Well this last week started off kind of crappy because Tuesday I woke up with the worst diarrhea ever. I was in the bathroom pretty much every 15 minutes. I'm sure it was something that I ate that made me sick, but I'm not sure exactly what it was. Sometimes things like that just happen! It's the worst though. And I was still sick for Wednesday and Thursday, just not as bad as Tuesday. But by Friday I was feeling a lot better! 

Tuesday night the assistants came to Tumbes and slept in our apartment because on Wednesday we had our multi-zone conference with President Rowley. Honestly that was kind of stressful because we had to plan almost everything. We had to clean the church. We had to plan lunch for 36 people and find a member to help us out with that. And we also had to teach part of the conference. But it turned out super well! I'm super grateful for opportunities like that. Being stressed out isn't a bad thing. It's a normal thing. And it helps us grow! You just have to learn to handle it. You are never going to be able to get rid of all stress. But you can handle the way you react to it! The conference went super great though! We talked a lot about personal conversion. And also about lots of other things. We also talked about a plan that we are going to be doing this week to work with the "Because He Lives!" plan this week. I'm super excited for that! It is in preparation for Easter and for General Conference this weekend! I'm so excited for this weekend! It's going to be the best! It is such a blessing to be able to hear from the prophet every six months! 

Saturday night we had a pretty cool experience. It was like 7:00 and we started to teach a less-active family about the Restoration. And about 10 minutes later it started to rain super, super, super hard. And most all of the houses here have metal roofs. So when it starts raining it is super loud. But we just started talking really loud and kept going with the lesson. And about 15 minutes later the power went out. And it kept raining! The streets turned into rivers. Once that lesson was over we waited for 15 minutes to see if the rain would pass over but it never did. So that means that we kind of just had to walk/run to our apartment in about 5 inches of rain. So that was kind of exciting! Just some of the fun things about Tumbes! And also with all the rain that is coming that means that the number of giant frogs in the streets is going up as well. I like that though. Frogs are super sweet. jajaja. 

  

Coming back to the apartment after a horrible downpouring of rain. I had like 3 liters of water in my shoes!

I love all of you guys! I hope you have a great week! I'm so excited for General Conference this weekend! It's going to be amazing! I know the church is true! Love you guys a ton!

Elder Baker

P.S.

Winter sounds like it's been interesting there! Sounds like Utah could use some of the rain that we are getting here! In Utah it's super pretty when it rains. It cleans the earth. But here it just makes everything muddy and super dirty and causes problems! It's a pretty cool experience though! Super memorable!

We can't judge by appearances. We really have to learn to love people! - 3/23/15

23 de Marzo! 2015

Well first off, there is no water in our apartment. There hasn't been water in our area for over 5 days. Our apartment has a tank to store water so luckily it didn't run out until today. But now we are in the process of determining what we are going to do. I haven't showered since yesterday morning and I feel filthy. Just another of the many blessings of la Misión Perú Piura! jaja

Well, we are in rainy season. It rained all last weekend and rained every single day this week until Friday. But we have now had 3 dry days, so we are happy about that! Because everything here had turned to complete mud. Tons and tons and tons of mud. My black shoes every night looked brown because they were completely covered in mud. And there are lots of mosquitoes. At 6:30 they come out and there are a million of them. And they are there until about 7:30. So it's horrible to be out during that hour! And then every night when we come back to the apartment we kill 3 or 4 cockroaches... But even through all of this, I'm still smiling! Because it's amazing being a Missionary!

This last week we had exchanges with the Elders in Buenos Aires, Elder K and Elder V. Elder K came to my area with Elder M and I got to go to Buenos Aires with Elder V. It was super sweet though! I had a huge testimony builder that night! Elder V told me that we were going to go and visit a new family that they had just found a couple days earlier. So I was super excited. The whole time Elder V told me that this family was golden and that they were so ready to be baptized! But anyway, we get to the house and knock on the door and the wife invites us in. She wasn't the person that I was expecting to see. She was a 25 year old and she had died her hair black and she had a giant tattoo on her arm. And then her husband walks in. He is a 28 year old body builder and he is super duper duper duper duper strong! Like me ;) jajajaja. But for real. This guy was huge! And he had a metal chain around his neck and he had various tattoos on his arms. In that moment, I was sitting there thinking "And this is the family that is golden??" But I learned a HUGE lesson that night. We started to teach them about the Plan of Salvation and the spirit was SOOOOOOOOOO strong. These people understood everything. And the spirit was present, testifying of the truth of what we were teaching. In just a little 40 minute lesson, my testimony was strengthened so much. I went from having lots of doubts about the family, to feeling an immense love for them like they really were my own family. When it was time to leave, we said goodbye practically in tears. There is no way that I could possibly say that this is not true. Because I know it is. And that family knows it too! The Lord really is preparing people to receive the restored gospel. And as missionaries, I learned that we can't judge by appearances. We really have to learn to love people!

This morning in my personal study I was reading in 1 Nefi about the tree of life in Lehi´s vision. Later on when the angel is explaining what it means to Nefi, it says that the tree was the most desirable above all things and that the tree represents the love of god! That night I could really feel of that love from God. And I testify that it really is the most desirable above all things!

This week was great for my companion and me! We found some new investigators, we taught some lessons to converts and to some less active members! I go to bed every night super tired! But I'm grateful for the opportunity that I have to be a missionary! I know this church is true! Love you guys a ton!

Elder Baker

P.S. 

It's rainy season right now. It's not something that happens all year long. Normally just the sun, all day, every day... jaja

This last week I hit the 20 month mark..... Time is going by way too fast! 

We are definitely in the rainy season here in Tumbes! - 3/16/15

16 de Marzo 2015

Half of March has already come and gone... I don't know what to say today. My mind has gone blank. But I'm sending lots of pictures so you can't be too upset with me!

This last week was a good one. A hot one, but good. My companion and I were really struggling these last few weeks with finding people to teach. We were talking to tons of people, knocking on doors, and doing everything we could think of to find by our own efforts or find through the members, but nothing was working. The good thing is that this week we did find 1 promising investigator! Her name is M G. She is super prepared. We actually talked to her one day on the streets and she invited us to go back and teach her! So this week we had a first lesson with her! She isn't from Tumbes. She is from Chiclayo, but she has been living here for almost 2 years for her husband’s job. She expressed to us that sometimes she feels alone without many friends but has been searching for comfort through the Bible and has been trying to come closer to God! And want to know the coolest part? She said that she really only has 1 close friend that visits her. Her friend C. And want to know the coolest part!?!?!? C is a member of the church here in our ward! So everything is going amazing with this so far! My companion and I are super excited for this next week to be able to teach her again!

We are definitely in the rainy season here in Tumbes! Friday night it rained for like 6 hours. Saturday night it rained for like 7. And Sunday night it was also raining a ton. And it will probably rain again tonight! It's pretty cool though! I like it a lot!  Except for that it means that more mosquitoes will probably be coming. Friday night I was on exchanges with Elder A and the rain came super duper duper strong. We came back walking through the streets that had turned into rivers and by the time we got back to the apartment we were super wet. We walked in and turned on the lights, and we went to the kitchen to take a drink and there were 3 giant cockroaches on the kitchen counter. So we hurried and grabbed shoes and smashed them. I'm not really a big fan of cockroaches. I hope they don't become a big problem with the rain! Cause they're kind of gross!

Being a zone leader is going great. There are always lots of little problems that we have to help fix. And lots of extra duties that we have. But it's great! I really love these transfers as a missionary! They are a little bit stressful, but they are good! I'm learning a ton and improving as a missionary! My companion is great! We are working hard! Wednesday night we had to go pick up the district leaders from the bus station at midnight that were getting here from Piura. So that night we didn't get much sleep. And that next day was a super filled day with tons of stuff to do. But that's just sometimes how it is as a missionary! Running on empty! But somehow I'm always able to make it through it!

Our zone in Tumbes

Church yesterday was good! We had a special meeting with 2 wards together and the stake presidency spoke to us about hurrying the work of salvation! That was super sweet! I loved that meeting a ton! That afternoon was kind of a bummer though because my companion got sick and so we couldn't go out and work. But sometimes that's just how it goes!

Sorry I don't have tons of time! I promise I will write more next week!  Love you guys a ton!

Elder Baker

 Some pictures from P-day activities today:

Me with a statue in Tumbes. It's called La Ascencion. It's pretty cool.
And... It's HUGE!

The other zone leaders in Tumbes with me and my companion.

In a combi going to the frontera with my companion and the other zone leaders.

At the frontera with my companion

Police station on the border.

Lunch in a restaurant.