Elmer was baptized

ELMER GOT BAPTIZED!!!!!    I baptized him it was a real powerful experience, he's very happy, he shared his testimony there in the service,  Sunday he was confirmed  and received the Aaronic Priesthood.  The attendance wasn't as high as other baptisms because it was a joint service with a baptism from the sisters and they could only do it early, so yeah we just did it early.  

We have a new investigator Victor he's a very cool guy, we're going to keep working with him, and we're going to go through and teach all the people I didn't have time to teach when I was in Inca Pachacutec.

In transfers I'm staying here, and my new companion is coming from Cusco he's Elder Díaz. He's from Piura in the north of peru. I met him once he's pretty cool guy,   I'm happy to have a companion!!!!!   I'll send pictures next week.  Elder Huallparuca from my district is going to Cusco and Elder Maldonado is coming from Juliaca to replace him.

We had 177 at church I'm pretty sure were the strongest ward in puno,    I have a list of Melchizdeck Priesthood holders, I'm gonna start looking for all the ones I don't know. we need to go to the rescue for them.

I'll write more about the sector next week

ll send more pictures and updates next week 

love

Elder Wilde

Wow good to hear that wedding news.  I've got some cool stuff here!! Dad I went to a market this week and I bought a 64 GB micro SD card for 15 soles!!!!! They sell terrabyte for about 200 soles if you want to get a little business going, they also sell external batteries for cheap.  I'm really happy with that deal. just tell me if you want anything and I'll buy it.  

WHAT  more boundary changes dad??? 

I'm not going to have a companion until next transfer but its super probable I'm going to train I hope its a gringo!!!!!! 

I'll send baptism pics next week with transfer news!!

Yeah okay I'm figuring out here where I'm gonna call from too!!!!!!!!!!  its super close (Mother's Day).    SO in mission news this week,  Elmer had his baptismal interview Saturday afternoon, he passed normal he's excited and his family also. we are planning the service for next Saturday, he's asked me to baptize him.   The sisters from my ward also have a baptism so were going to coordinate with them for that. Its gonna be real good.   

I also had some new investigators this week, a rare thing now that I'm hardly in my sector haha  They're all pretty cool. One is married and another is single and wants to change his life, and the other dated a member before and has interest but was never baptized.  I want a companion so bad just to work in my sector there's so many people to teach but I don't have time juggling 2 sectors, I cant wait to just walk around the whole day their!!!!      In my district were working hard on street contacts and we had a bunch this week and it's getting a lot easier and natural, when my district is complete were gonna kill it.

We were gonna go to a beach this morning about an hour out of puno, but it was cloudy so they canceled it. Now it's sunny, so were gonna go play ultimate frisbee in a place called Salcedo.

Love,

Elder Wilde

General Conference

General Conference was great, loved it.  The talks were most excellent. I liked President Uchtdorf's talk because you could tell he was really remembering being in an air raid, than when Elder Kearon spoke you could see that President Uchtdorf  was emotional him having been a refugee in Europe.   Yes we had a Gringo room and it was another success.  After the Sunday morning session I stayed with Elder Augat to watch the world report. It was super cool all the other missionaries left, and about and hour after we went to go eat lunch, and we saw they had shut all the gates!!!!!!! we were laughing  so hard that they had locked us in but we jumped the wall and went to lunch haha (all churches here have big walls around them).

 It's weird having 2 companions; I'm used to only having one haha .  But  maybe I'll get another Mini Missionary. I'm thinking I'll just finish off the transfer in a trio.

From what I understand during elections  they outlaw any gatherings. If you don't vote you get a couple hundred sole ticket.

Elder Holland was pretty powerful in the end right?? VERY powerful I'm never going to forget that conference.

When I heard Paul H Watkins I about jumped out of my seat, and I knew you did too!!!  The conference was interesting when they talked about Family Councils and all the types,.I remembered all the family meetings that we had, and I thought great more types of meetings for when I get back haha (they forget Priesthood Executive Family Council on the list).

I'm still with the Elders from my District,. It's a little hard to work in the sector now.     

It would be cool to have a temple in Cusco but I feel there won't be one for a while, just off the stake numbers but it would be the coolest temple ever, President Uchtdorf - I thought the celestial language was Quechua haha

I'll keep you updated on what happens.

Love,

Elder Wilde

I need a companion

Yes this week was good. I still don't have a companion I'm in a trio with the Elders in my District, from the Inca Pachacutec Ward. I went to my ward though. They dropped me off at the Bishop's house early Sunday morning then I went to church with him and I was with a Returned Missionary for church. It was a good day we had 4 investigators and a bunch of less actives come to church, I was happy because they all came and I was hardly there in Central,  Then after church my mission leader Hermano Policarpo took me to my pension and handed me over to David my pensionista Shirley's husband. After lunch he took me to the church where I met up with the Elders Quorum, then we went and visited people, then  I went to the Stake Center for a meeting. From there the Elders from my District went with me to my sector till the dinner haha it's kind of exhausting. Sometimes I was looking for someone to be my companion because I didn't have one. But everything turned out fine.  

About Elmer, he traveled so we couldn't baptize him, and next week is General Conference and we can't then, then the next week is Peruvian elections and It's illegal to have any activities Saturday afternoon, and all day Sunday, so there's no church that week, and no baptism. We have it postponed for April 16th right now and everything is on track for that. 

And for the General Conference we are planning a gringo room again, it should be pretty good just like in Abancay!!!!!!.   President Harbertson,told me this week that I should receive a companion from a place in Cusco called Espinar,(look it up its pretty cool).   I'll keep you all updated about my companion situation hopefully it gets resolved this week  That's Puno from the sector Inca Pachacutec, its super hilly!!!

This is my sector -  if you zoom in on the far right side there is a big aluminum roof that's a market where my ward starts,  and it finishes if you zoom in on the far left there's a stadium, it finishes about 3 city blocks after the stadium.!!!!!!

Today we are having a Zone Pday. We are going to cook tacos then play sports in the church,  and today in the night I'm starting work divisions with my Zone Leader Elder Flores. I' going to the Chanu Chanu ward.  It'll be fun getting out of the trio. 

Wow Sawyer sounds so big!!!!  I want to see him so bad, he seems like a pretty darn good athlete/worker. haha    

I heard about the attacks from a member they said they were watching the news and saw a video. 

General Conference should be fun, We're going to watch it in the Stake Center(live) it's just a little later than home for the time zone difference .  I coordinated with the elders to have a dinner after, so it should be fun.   

In the stake there is a big push for the leaders to magnify their callings they are starting to push more from the youth leaders, which is really good. (the stake 1st Counselor said the area is observing our ward's progress.

My pensionista bought star wars 7 in the market for 2.50 soles hahahahaha   so hard to have that in the pension now and not watch it.

this is pretty much all

Love,

Elder Wilde

Ward Conference - Letter from 3/21

So my mini missionary companion Elder Nuñez isn't my companion anymore. He got his mission call and we opened it up on Tuesday night in his church, and he got his call to Lima central, and has to report to the MTC march 29th!!!! 3 weeks before this transfer ends, and he asked to go home and pack his stuff because he pretty much has 1 week to get everything ready for his mission,  We dropped him off with his stake president Friday and I've been with the Elders from my District since then.  It's kind of a complicated situation juggling the 2 wards and all of my investigators and less actives,.  The stakes are looking for someone to be my companion but no luck so far, they said by next week they might find someone.  But its pretty fun, I've got my own bathroom now and have lots of extra space now!!!  But I hope I get a companion soon, 

Elmer is doing well I did divisions to go down to central and teach him, but I've got some good news about the ward.  Yesterday was our Ward Conference, the Bishop was pushing really hard for the members to invite people. The Elders dropped me off there early and I was with Returned Missionaries.  The chapel was filling up good; there was lots of  investigators and less active members i had never seen before, it looked so full. I got up to count with the clerk, we counted 210 people!!!!!  And there were 6 Young Men passing the sacrament, with 2 Priests blessing.  I just felt so happy.  There were so many priesthood holders in the classes. I'm so pumped to work here.  The Young Men left to visit in the afternoon and by their own initiative without leaders!!!!!!!!!!!!  The quorum presidents are starting to get their act together, because they told them they have keys.    Members accompanied me the whole afternoon till dinner, I worked the whole day there, I can't explain it I'm just so happy to be here in Puno, even though its cold, and I'm gonna be here till winter!!!!!!!  I'm ready to work and get that number up to 300, that's the ward goal,

The picture is my District the kid (Grey Sweater) was my companion, the Elder in blue is Elder Melo from Columbia,  and the  purplish color is elder Huallparuca from Huancayo Peru

                                        That's my zone in the stake center, I'm on the right side, 

 We had a stake wide Primary activity, and the District Leaders all had to teach classes for the kids,  I team taught with Elder Augat it was fun hanging out with the kids, it was a future missionary activity, I had to teach them 'Que enseño como misionero' (I teach as a missionary) so I taught them the Doctrine of Christ.  Then after these 4 training classes, we got divided up with kids and sent to proselyte!!!!!

I worked with converts this week and in one afternoon we cleared 8 names for the temple.  Thanks for the pictures,

love

Elder Wilde

Training a Mini Missionary

well It's pretty fun to train a mini missionary, because it's all the benefits of teaching someone but I don't have to teach the language cause he's from Puno haha,  He's doing good. He is still getting used to walking everywhere.   Elmer is doing super good, we had to change his baptismal date for the General Conference weekend and I am waiting for an answer from Cuzco if we can do that.  

YESSSS  I got my package thanks so much I love you all!!!   I tore it up,  and  I opened the peanut butter during my study today, I almost died!!!!    Oh my pensionista Shirley got internet in her house the other day, so I'm going to help her find you in facebook,  so heads up for that.

That rain sounds good, personally I don't like it when it rains here cause it's super cold rain, I heard it's going to get worse with the rain here so that's what I got going for me.   

This week we had a Zone goal of contacts.  In my companionship we had 62 the other elders in my district had 68!!!!!!  We killed it!!!!  We are a district of 4 and we hold our own against the other bigger districts in the zone. We're going to keep contacting people like that, I've lost more of the fear I had to contact now its more normal.

Everything is good here, the work is progressing. I feel that  in my 3 more transfers here that I will have a lot more success.  That is good to work on family history, the stake is trying to push that a lot here. We had a stake priesthood meeting,  it was very good, and after we left with the priesthood holders from the ward. I remember when we would go eat pizza as a ward. I felt the same brotherhood, with them, I gave them the idea to make that an activity to go do something after.  I felt at home with them, and in the priesthood opening exercises, singing the hymn, powerful manly voices I felt the spirit, and talking with all the members I'm just so happy to be here in Puno and to know all these people. 

I didn't go to the training. They pretty much told me to wing it...  I'm trying to remember my training and just teach him all the stuff I think he needs to know.  I'm having lots of fun with my district  

I'll inform you more next week

That's a picture with the family from my ward, the mom crocheted me a tie of the peruvian flag!!!!!!!Everyone was complimenting me haha

I'm super happy and I'm doing just fine.

Love,

Elder Wilde

Letter from last week 3/7

The news is that my companion Elder Tucto is going to Abancay, he's going to the sector across the bridge from Patibamba, and I'm going to train a mini missionary!!!!!!     I'm really excited to train. someone and teach him how to be a missionary, its my job to shape into an instrument in gods hands.  I'm just so happy to do this,  I'm only gonna be with him for 6 weeks, but I feel like I might train for reals in April, because a lot of missionaries are going to come.  I'm probably going to travel to Cusco for training, then receive my kid and go back to Puno.  

Elmer came to church he really liked it he's progressing very well for the 26th of march, this lucky mini missionary is going to have a baptism haha,  

I'm doing well, I'm healthy and my pensionista is taking really good care of me. (I'm gaining a little bit of weight) but that's good because I've lost a lot of weight,  

Hey quick question could you fill my card up with some soles please, I may buy some weights soon. 

allrighty see you later, Sawyer sounds so cool!!!

I read the grampy report. it made me very happy to hear that news, that now you're sealed to your parents. I know he accepted the work you guys did.

I'll write more next week I promise.

Me and my District by Lake Titicaca

Love,

Elder Wilde