Multi Stake Conference

This Sunday was pretty interesting...   we had a Multi Stake Conference of Peru and Bolivia and nobody knew!!! We told as many as we could and Saturday night I went to the clerks office and printed signs to put on the gate, we waited for people in front of the church and told them to come back at 10:00 AM.  We opened it and i was getting worried about the transmission. The satellite system was not receiving signal, I was counselling with the leaders and they said we can go to the other chapel.  I said we would never fit 4 branches there.  So to quote Grampy 'I came in and took it all over' I left and went to the clerks office, I unplugged the computer from the monitor and went to hook it up to the projector. and I started to tell the people what to do and they listened!!!!!! it was so funny, we ran a cat 5 cable out of the clerks office window and I had some one get sound cable and around the chapel to get internet to the computer with the projector.  Then we got the conference from an internet stream, and just in time,   It was good Elder Andersen spoke and Elder Nash. My mission leader Elder Silverio was sitting by me and he told me in the conference, 'usted le gana en castellano' (a real compliment) it was a classic line from my 71 year old mission leader.

The other week we also had a mission wide fast to help us out, it was very good and we had a personal fast this week, When I fast this Sunday i will have fasted 4 times this month!! gosh , its like nothing now to fast.  

 During the week one of our best investigators moved to Lima to study.....  I'm gonna leave a big note in the area book for the elders to look for him in a year though!!!     We talked with Cesar yesterday and he is still doing very well. We went over the Plan of Salvation with them, and he was very interested in how to follow Jesus here in the earth.  I talked about being baptized and authority and I feel like he is understanding more.   He had a question about original sin, and I was pretty direct stating our belief that babies are born clean, not dirty from sin. It was a very good lesson, he had some questions and we are going to try to get him a baptismal date next time we go over. 

another good thing that happened, so in that picture you could see my desk this week, for my studies I was just looking at maps and the area books and the directory to try to triangulate old investigators and less active members. We're having success finding them. And we were looking for a member named Lady, I went to a tienda (shop) to ask if she lived there, and they said she did and we started talking and I asked her if she was a member and she isn't!!! I was super confused for a second. It turns out she was investigating the church 4 years ago but didn't get baptized because she was a minor, and she is a completely different lady that I was looking for and we're teaching her now, I think if i stay another transfer i'll probably baptize her.   Good stuffs happening in Patibamba, the less actives we teach tell me there are way more people than before in the branch. I may get a transfer next week, i'll be sad to leave, but i know i've left the branch better than i got it in may.  I've seen miracles here, and also many sad occurrences, Patibamba has helped me be a better missionary and person, it's been a small refiners fire. I feel ready for whatever sector the Lord sends me to next.

so last p-day we went to Ampay again ..... super fun hike.....  those are some homes we found in the mountains where people live, it was crazy to see those living conditions, its like they're in Incan times still.

Love,

Elder Wilde

District Conference

We are working hard here in Patibamba, and I'm sure this time is gonna go by super fast 2 weeks.My companion is just in shock that his mission is ending, and I'm just going to help him as much as I can.

The city is fine now, they came to a conclusion with the protesters.  In the Zone Conference this week we saw pictures from President Harbertson's mission and from when he went back 40 years later and found all his converts.  It made me feel happy for all the seeds I'm spreading here in Peru that will grow with time for me to see their fruits in some years.

This Sunday we had a District Conference, and last Sunday the Branch President said it started at 10 but it actually started at 9!!! Many people showed up late, and I'm sure some did at 8.  We watched it on a screen from the other chapel in Abancay.  Our investigator did not come, he said he got dragged into some last minute project and couldn't come, we hope to get him, and his friend whom we started teaching this week to church. We had a real good talk with his friend and he really liked the Restoration, and had read a little bit of the Book of Mormon, that his friend lent him.   we also went to some other investigators this week that we hadn't visited for a while, when i asked the dad if he had read the Book of Mormon, he said he was finishing up 1st Nephi!!!!  It was very good, we are going to keep working with this family, The dad is very open to hear us, he had some questions and we started explaining the Plan of Salvation a little, and he said he wants to know more about that the next time that we come.!!!

Today we went to Ampay again and I don't know why. it was the same lack and a hard hike. That is why I'm writing later than normal. I'm trying to send pictures but this computer won't accept my camera. I'll keep trying.

I'll keep killin it here.

love,

Elder Wilde

In church we had 79!!!! and hopefully it keeps going up. I'm trying to get the branch to make home teachers, cause that's how you get sustainable growth, and stakes not districts.  We beat another branch for the first time in attendance yesterday, We are working with a  less active convert that the sister missionaries baptized her right before they got pulled out. We are also working to advance a member to the Melchizedek Priesthood. he should make a good contribution to the branch, and we're trying to get the guys out on missions. 

So we found a family of investigators and we aare teaching them, the parents are married and are open to learning more .  The dad's mom and siblings are members so he has already had exposure to the Church.  We're gonna talk again Wednesday.  Our other investigator Ader has a baptismal date for November, and he is reading the Book of Mormon. he's really cool!!! He went to Cusco this week so he couldn't come to Church, so we gave him a tour of the chapel and he said he's for sure coming next week, and we are gonna start teaching some friends of his too.  In rescues we are working with a less active brother that's coming back and hes going to get the priesthood and a calling in a bit, and we start teaching one of his less active daughters and her non member husband. (they came to Church yesterday).  We had a good week and this one will probably be good also.

(For his next box from home) some stuff  I've thought of is rice krispie treats, candy canes, extra black shoe laces. and like small plastic foto album things of the family. oh and 5 gum!! I'll write if I think of more.

For your companion question Elder Largent is my 4th companion in the mission field, and I will receive my 5th companion in the first week of November.

So about this riot they were planning it pretty much fizzled because of heavy police reaction. We walked through the plaza one day and it was just full of hundred odd riot police with guns and shields. it was so quiet you could of heard a pin drop there!!!!!  the next day we had to get to the other chapel, but there were no buses or taxis or people in the streets, so we went on foot, it was eerie, While walking a person yelled 'mira gringos¡ in a mad voice, I turned around fast and saw it was a member from another branch jokin' around with us!!! My heart skipped a beat. 

hasta la proxima semana.

Elder Wilde

General Conference Gringo Party

Yes I enjoyed the (General) Conference a lot, all the talks were great, and we had a gringo party to watch in English!!!  It was great to hear the prophet even though I am worried by his decaying health. But the Lord is at the helm in the good ol' ship Zion.  We went up to Abancay from Patibamba to watch conference with the other missionaries of the zone. I really liked elder Keetch's story about the shark barrier, I took a lot of notes in my study journal.  

The work is progressing in Patibamba and I feel in the months I've got left here that it will get even better.

The situation in Apurimac is getting a little tense, there is a mine out in a Pueblo, and last week there was a confrontation there, and there's 4 dead and many wounded. They are planning to riot this week and shut down transportation out of Abancay. There's been an increase in military air activity over Abancay this week. I hadn't seen helicopters before this week. so we've got special rules to be home early.

Something I'd like for a future package is something called a 'mission belt',  they look pretty cool!!! and old spice deodorant,  just thinking out loud, and toothbrushes some with good bristles.

love, 

Elder Wilde

Church Attendance

Attendance was 73 at church yesterday. We have lots of room for improvement. Another member commented to me that there is a lot more people than before, so I'm happy.  

Wow thats crazy that everyone is getting home from their missions now, (question=where's brad howell at?).  One day I'll be there. haha  Yes I heard Elder Scott passed away, not a surprise, but still sad. It's gonna be a historic Saturday afternoon session with 3 new apostles!!!  I'm going to watch all the sessions, in English in the church building in a gringo room on TV. I'll be there takin notes and having a gringo party 

Our investigator didn't make it to church this week, but we taught him during the week and he is doing fine, We are going to talk more this week, but we are happy here in Patibamba.  

Nothing to eventful happened this week, and I don't take as many pictures as I did in Puerto because there isn't as much cool stuff, just adobe buildings, etc...   It's gonna be a good week.

This was a sisters birthday so we had a small party, cake was pretty much the highlight of the week. We're going to play basketball today.

love,

Elder Wilde