Follow that bus!!!

Yeah I had a good week I was a little nervous but i didn't end up getting a transfer today!!! Yesterday we had 67 at church;up from last week. Teaching is good.  We got a new member in the branch and he has been back from the mission for 2 weeks now, and he is always out working with us, I'm trying to get him as our new mission leader.  

We went to the terminal to say goodbye to all the finishing elders and we said goodbye then the zone leader Elder Jensen yelled ' Sanchez has the cell phone!!!!'  We started chasing the bus on foot for a couple blocks but it wouldn't stop, so we flagged down a taxi. I jumped into the front seat, and yelled' follow that bus!!!' so we went around the city chasing it until we caught up then they threw the cell phone out the window to us.   We were standing there and Elder Jensen said' lets go eat ice cream' it was so fun!!!  

I'm going to be with Elder Largent as he finishes his mission in November!!!

I will be here a minimum to the beginning of November but I will most likely stay here until about halfway through December. 

I think cuy (guinea pig) kinda tastes like weird ham,

so weve got a super good new  investigator. He is from Quillabamba and we found him contacting. We brought a returned missionary with us and it was crazy they are both here in Abancay studying the same major(5 years here).  Yesterday we taught the Restoration and he accepted it and when I was explaining what the Book of Mormon was he asked for a copy to read, so I gave him one right there, he's gonna read and pray about it. We feel like he is very likely going to get baptized.

On Saturday we had a big branch mission night we got a projector and watched some Mormon Messages and John Rowe Moyle (Mormon Pioneer and a settler of Alpine, Utah). Then we played games and had refreshments, like 30 people showed up so it was a success!!  hopefully they will all pass the word about activities.

Thanks for that email of us when we were little its crazy how time goes by.   So I'm gonna keep working hard here in Patibamba, until December mas o menos (more or less)!!

                             That's me with one of the elders that finished this transfer

love,

Elder Wilde

Chuno with noodles and chicken and Cuy (guinea pig)

I found out that the part member family that we started teaching does not live in our sector. We have to pass them to the other missionaries. What happened was I had the wrong limit on my map so I thought they were in Patibamba. darn

Yesterday we were walking and we had a really good contact with this guy, he started talking to us then we walked for a bit, he wants to come talk to us, i feel like he's a good guy that can progress!!!  and he's in our sector!!!!   My companion likes old John Wayne movies, and I explained Fail Safe.   In Patibamba we have the bus terminal in Abancay, so whenever an Elder comes in at night we have to go pick him up. On Saturday an Elder showed up from Andahuaylas, we picked him up and (it was our landlords birthday, and they invited us after dinner to what I thought would be just cake... ) so we ate dinner then went back to the room, they had Chuño, with noodles and chicken and  then Cuy (Guinea Pig).  We were all so stuffed!!!haha 

Wow that sounds crazy with those fires, I always explain that about where I live in California. My landlord  likes Bonanza, could you send the pictures from the Ponderosa Ranch?

ooh something about sending me shoes: this sister in my branch has family in Fresno. They are going to come visit in October. They said they could bring shoes. If you called and said you have a son serving in Abancay. You could arrange how to get them the stuff.  I think this is the best shot we got!!

In Patibamba we are doing good. We are finding new people still and more less active members, next week is the end of this transfer so we'll see if i stay here more time. My companion finishes next change, so if I don't leave I'm here till December. jajaja 

  

I'm slowly eating the goodies that came in my packages and having a good time here.

                                       this picture is my whole zone from last p day, 

                                     Boiled corn with ground up cheese  yummy!!!

Love,

Elder Wilde

Hot Springs

Wow it sounds like Sawyer is doing pretty good and sounds like a blast to have around.  We are teaching this family and the mom is less active and the dad isn't a member.  His son and son's wife came to the last lesson, and we taught about the restoration. The dad is an ex detective, and wants to see all the evidence, and his son just told him he needs to have faith and went on for a bit, the son basically said everything I wanted to say, but couldn't out of respect. Then after it was a nice spiritual lesson. Hopefully they will progress.  That's an example of a new family we are working with.    The pictures looked cool, and thanks for the usb!!!

                                        That's a photo of my sector Patibamba 

To answer that question I don't know that Hermana from Hawaii. The thing is the 2 zones I've been in are isolated and we don't really have contact with the other zones, so I don't know that many people in the mission but i'll ask around.

We had a good week, we are still teaching people and finding more every day. I'm using the directory and the maps I have of Patibamba to make geographic lists of people to go look for, We are just starting out but I feel we will have success in that.

OH AND I GOT YOUR PACKAGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!  THANKS FOR ALL THE FOOD AND IT WAS JUST SO COOL TO GET PACKAGES.   I also got one from grandma and grandpa. The picture is with the combined packages.  

It's crazy how fast the weeks are going by now, the time is flying here in abancaycito.   

I noticed that after I leave appointments I'm just really happy like it just feels so good to help people out..

Last pday we went to Pachachaca and we went further to some hot springs in this crazy river canyon, there was just a pool of hot water it was insanely cool..

This pday we are not doing anything like that though, just sports...

love 

Elder Wilde

La Zona Andahuaylas

These weeks we have been working with an elderly couple. The wife is active but her husband hasn't come to Church for years. We had been coming and started to talk to him, he said he didn't come because of work. I suspected that was the tip of the iceberg,  We just talked about forgiving others, I was using the New Testament a lot, and all the examples there and he came to Church on Sunday for all 3 hours and participated in the classes, maybe a rescue in a bit.!!!  

I'm doing fine here, my Spanish continues improving, I got the Hayden's letter last week.  I did the math on your package, I should get it in a couple weeks.

I got a Book of Mormon in english from Hermana Harbertson, and I started reading this week in English for the first time since December, it's way harder than spanish!!!

That's good to hear that everyone is leaving to their missions.  This week was pretty good, we had less lessons but it was still good, President Harbertson came and we had a combined conference with la Zona Andahuaylas. It was very good, thanks for the Oak tree pictures. I didn't really take that many pictures this week, but it was just a normal week in good ol' dusty Patibamba.  An Elder came back to the Branch this week, and he served in Jake Cano's mission. He never met him, but had heard his name before. He´s a cool guy and will be a good help to the Branch.

I just want some pizza!!

Love,

Elder Wilde

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