Strengthening the church

Yes this week was good, I got us some cement, sand, and rocks and I mixed and poured the cement in our room to make some weights. It was an interesting project for sure.   

I don't know if I said before but Jamil is first assistant in the Priests Quorum now!!!  and we had the whole week in the sector and we had a lot of work. I'm starting a strategy to try to strengthen the church by reactivating the members that live super close to the church first and to strengthen the center before expanding to the boonies of the sector. I think it's working we had the best attendance in all my time here, and hopefully it'll keep getting better.  

Don't worry mom I've got some habits now like shining my shoes, writing in my journal, and shaving everyday.

 One experience that happened this week was with a part member family. We had essentially stopped visiting them for 2-3 weeks, and we stopped by and asked when we could visit and the wife said tomorrow at 6. We came, fully expecting them to not be there like normal, but she was there and we started talking, she said that last Sunday she was at home and remembered what I told them about praying with faith to god the Eternal Father to receive an answer. She then prayed for the first time in 12 years as a member and asked if the church was true, and then after she started channel surfing on TV and found an interesting station, called BYU TV!!!!!  She watched that for a while and they talked about baptismal covenants and studying the scriptures. She had a light bulb moment realizing what she wasn't doing. She asked me if that was an answer and I told her yes it was. We then talked with her husband who isn't a member and in the end of the lesson she prayed and it was very spiritual. She was crying during the prayer as she prayed for her family to realize the same things. The spirit was very strong there and was a very nice experience.  Sunday she came to church with her husband for the first time since I've been here.  

It was a very good week in Patibamba

Elder Wilde

I Don't Have Packages!

Manan kanchu paquetes    (Quechua=I don't have packages)    but they'll get here eventually

My new companion Elder Largent is from a small town outside of Tulsa Oklahoma, he's super tall and funny. We're doing good here and getting to work in the sector. we are working a lot to try to turn the branch around and get it on its feet. Yes, the family that we baptized is doing fine here. The dad goes back to Chalhuahuacha Tuesday and we're gonna keep visiting when he's gone. Jamil the son I baptized got called as 1st assistant in the Priest Quorum, and he gave his first talk. I helped him write it and lent him my scriptures for it, and it was bullet points not word for word!!!! We worked with some older guys that are less active, while their wives are active. It's hard we've got the confidence of one husband and we're gonna visit him this week. The branch was super surprised when I told them we were talking to him. They said he always hides when the missionaries or members show up. But we helped him move a big pile of rocks!! so it's different now.  We found a giant tarantula under a rock and I killed it with a stone, so bummed I didn't bring my camera! haha

Last night we went on visits with the Elders Quorum and it was good.  I found more houses to visit, and I printed a new directory, and a list of organizations to search people out. We should have success!  It's going good here and i'll keep up the good work. 

There's a lot of potential here and we just have got to figure out how to tap into it.   I'm doing good here. I'm teaching good and talking good too. It's weird to talk English now but super fun, My companion and I get along good, we know the same TV shows and music, talk about big green tractors, and other stuff. Wow t swift concert sounded cool.  

I've got my first companion that does exercises with me, its fun. We bought rebar and were gonna make weights!! Today we're going to play futbol at the church, yippee.  We want to go to Pachachaca and Saywite in the future, just google em

Elder Largent with our landlady Mamicha, 

All is well.

Elder Wilde

Our hot shower broke and I did some ghetto fixes.  I just don't want to get electrocuted!!!

   

Waiting for my new companion

The studio looks pretty nice.  These days I've been with Elder Paucari in my sector since Friday, and the page says my new companion is Matthew D. Largent, I assume he's a gringo!! my first!!  He's going to show up tomorrow around noon, and then we´ll get to work.  

 It was weird this week leading everything and being in charge. My companion is coming to be district leader, I don't know how much time he has but I think he has a little bit left.

It's always good to see a missionary come home and leave like Jonah and Grant.  My companion is going to see Grant in Lima when he gets off the plane!!!

We went to lunch this week with the family we baptized, it was very good, and the husband called from the mine in Chalhuahuacha to say goodbye.  This week I also gave a talk in church , they asked for 15 minutes, I gave them 20+ talking about Alma the younger and repenting.!!

Have not received any package or nothing for a while now, it's probably serpost (mail here).  My companion was in Cuzco and said I didn't have anything waiting.  I'll have more info next week about my companion.

So in good news my Spanish is pretty good now, I don't have communication problems and people compliment me on my Spanish.  A person asked me how old I was when a learned Spanish, I said 18, he was like how old are you now and I replied 19 he was like wow and where? Puerto Maldonado I said. Wow again.    I met my new companion in Cuzco once he seems like a cool guy, We are gonna go play pool today for Pday!!!

Love,

Elder Wilde

Zone Conference in the Incan Ruins

hey mom sorry I cant write too much today because I got your email right at the end of my time !!! sorry that sounds real fun in Cameron Park and tell Jonah hi from me.   I'm doing good here. Next Monday I'll tell you who my new companion is!!!

When I was in the ruins and in the Combi ride I realized holy crap I'm living in the freakin Andes!!!  It's so cool here and there's ruins everywhere and I'm learning more quechuan too. 

I go to the internet at 10 am my time and I'm there to 11 am, so it would be good to coordinate that.

My companion is Elder Valdivia from Mendoza Argentina and he finishes his mission next week!!!! super trunky

This week was interesting, Monday and Tuesday were Independence Day so nobody talked to us, and on Wednesday we went to Andahualyas for a multi zone conference with President Harbertson. We had the conference in the Incan ruins 'Sondor.'   We played capture the flag at the top of the big hill it was super fun, Hermana Harbertson almost pushed me off a terrace!!!  It was the first ruins I've been to in the mission, and won't be the last for sure. haha  

Yesterday my companion went to Cuzco to go to Macchu Pichu, with some other missionaries who are finishing their mission.  I'm in another sector Intimpas with a temporary companion also from Argentina Elder Paucari. Yesterday we had some good success teaching and the highlight was our last lesson. So my companion has 4 months in the mission so I'm the senior companion, and we went to the appointment and he said we were gonna teach Lesson 2 "Plan of Salvation". I didn't feel that is the situation and then the dad who is an admitted drunk invited his other drunk friend over cause he said he needed help in his life. We started talking and my companion said lesson 1 the "Restoration" but I felt "Word of Wisdom", I knew it would be difficult but I knew that's what they needed, For a moment I didn't know what to do but I was like I'm scared to teach this but it's what they need. It went very well and I challenged them to decide then to stop drinking. We have a follow up cita (appointment)  Wednesday. I'm gonna be in Intimpas until Thursday and then Elder Paucari is coming to Patibamba Sunday until our new companions come. It's gonna be an interesting week. 

Love

Elder Wilde

A Wedding and a Baptism

Wow you guys are back from camping already?! In like a week I'll have one year with my call!!!

It's good the blue sub(urban) is still living and now with air conditioning, that would have been cool when I drove it.  haha!

I haven't gotten anything yet (packages), but the zone leaders are coming back from Cuzco right now, so they might have stuff for me, I went to Cuzco Thursday but I couldn't get to the offices :(  

We had a conference with Elder Uceda in Cuzco. He had all these plans to do but he was like the spirit is telling me to change my message. He talked us for 4 hours about repentance. He did it without any notes, he was using greek and hebrew words to shows the history of repentance. and burned the Latinos for not learning English. he said its for fear and embarrasment. then he called us all to repentance, and just talked about that and obedience!! Inicuos habiamos sido (We had been wicked).   it was super cool in Cuzco.  

Elder Uceda told us his mission story and of the church in Peru. When he served in Peru there was one mission and there was about 6 Latinos serving in the whole country. There were two branches (small congregations) in Cuzco, one in Puno and one in Juliaca. He was called Branch President in Puno with the order to shut it down if it didn't improve. He got attendance from 6 to 120 and now there's two stakes there!!!!  all the missionaries were just shocked he's such a cool guy!!!  when he came to Abancay I talked to him in English and found out that two of his kids served in CA!!   

When  went to papa johns in Cuzco I ate pizza and got sick after because my stomach wasn't used to American food. first time since December.

 I went to a mall to eat with my friends from Puerto and when I walked into the mall I felt like I was in the states.   look it up its called Real Plaza!  

We went to the wedding almost all day Saturday, it was cool, and Sunday before Sacrament Meeting we baptized him, then he went and got confirmed normal. and his son Jamil received the Aaronic Priesthood!!!  

More good news, in Cuzco I heard from the Elders in my last sector (from Puerto)  that the family I started teaching there is getting baptized this week, shows how the work pays off in the long run, 

Now we got to get working because we don't have anyone else close, I'm doing good and my spanish is getting better too!!

 we had an light week lots of lost time in travel, and this week were going to Andahuaylas for a Multi Zone Conference, the ugliest bus trip in the mission. just look at the highway from Abancay to there.

 Love,

Elder Wilde