Week 8

LETTER FROM JORDAN - WEEK 8 (7/28/14)

This week has been pretty interesting, still trying to get used to this whole mission thing.

Well today is El Veintiocho de Julio, which is Peru´s independence day so things are kind of crazy around here. Parades everywhere and fireworks are going to be going off all night. Looking forward to it.

Let´s see, this week we had a pretty cool spiritual experience. We were visiting a contact in the outskirts of town so we knocked on the door, and no one was there. So we decided to walk a little further down the street and we ended up finding a whole family that we ended up teaching and they all attended church. In the field, we call our new investigators "Escogidos" which is like calling them "chosen ones" in English and it is just so cool to see how many people are prepared and waiting for us to bring them into the gospel.

The whole missionary work has changed since about 2012. We are not as worried about getting baptisms like how it used to be. Our purpose is to "Invite others to come unto Christ" so our main goal is to get them to the temple. We have this thing called "Almas Rescatadas" which is "rescued souls" in English and it is bringing less-active members back to the church and it is equivalent to a baptism in our mission. We also teach for conversion and not just for baptism. It´s just amazing to see how much the missionary work has progressed in the past few years.

So Chocope is pretty remote. We are the only companionship here in the area and our are also extends a while past the city. This week we had 33 people attend which included 5 investigators and 4 less-actives and it´s a branch. We are part of the Paiján District which is part of the Casa Grande Zone, which is the most north area in the mission. We haven´t really had a transfer day, but we take cars whenever we leave our area. There are people that drive back and forth between cities as their jobs. But when we go to further places like Trujillo, we take a bus. We walk everywhere, but whenever we are in a rush, we take the Moto Taxis which are pretty fun.

The weather here is great right now and perfect for short sleeves. On most days, it is overcast until about 11a and then the sun comes out and it´s really hot so I´m fine with the short sleeves. Also, a lot of the houses look like they´re unfinished with like metal poles sticking out of them and all of the houses have roof areas where they dry clothes and stuff.

We eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner at our pension where our food is all cooked for us, and we also have our laundry done for us so all of our time is focused on the work.

I think that will do it for this week. I just want everyone to know that things are pretty difficult right now, but I can feel myself improve everyday and I know that this is where I´m supposed to be right now with the companion I have. Until next week!

Élder Terry

Week 7

Trainer - Elder Fernandez & Elder Terry

LETTER FROM JORDAN - WEEK 7 (7/21/14)
Well this is it, I´m serving my mission! I have so much to talk about but so little time.

I guess I´ll start out with my last week in the MTC because I didn´t get to email last week. So the last Saturday, we went proselyting again but this time was in a different area. My companion was on his second week and reminded me of myself my first time going proselyting. He had pretty good Spanish, but he didn´t talk too much. Other than that it was a great experience for the both of us because I had to lead in all of the contacts and teachings which was great practice for the field.

On the Monday before we left, we spent most of the day in the Migracions center and I officially got my Peruvian license! We spent the rest of the day packing with a little bit of anxiety about what was happening the next day.

So Tuesday morning, we got up at 4:45 in the morning to leave for our flight which left at 8. We didn´t even have time to eat breakfast. But the flight was nice and short and we landed in the smallest airport I´ve ever seen. There, our mission president and his wife was waiting for us and we all hopped into a van to drive to the mission home. But on the way, we stopped by to see the the progress on the Trujillo Temple. The structure is practically done and it just looks like they need to finish the interior. It looks great.

Later, we had lunch at the Mission Home and had a few lessons on our mission area and the rules and such. And after all of that, I got to meet my new companion and trainer, Elder Fernandez.

Elder Fernandez had served the first part of his mission in Bolivia but for some reason had his mission changed to Trujillo. He is a great guy and a really good trainer.

So the area we were assigned to is a small town called Chocope. Moving into this area was kind of a culture shock to me. We have the smallest little room and a bathroom with a shower that only has one knob: cold. But I guess I´m adapting to this new environment.

I´m definitely looking forward to spending my first 12 weeks in this area and my testimony of the gospel is improving by the day.

Well I´m almost out of time for this week so I´m gonna end it here. Wish me success in this new area :)

Élder Terry

Week 6 - Arrive in Trujillo

New missionaries arriving at Trujillo Airport

Stopped by Trujillo Temple on way to mission home. Still under construction.

LETTER FROM JORDAN - WEEK 6 (7/15/14)

I got like 3 minutes, so this is just to let everyone know that I arrived at the mission home in Trujillo. Everything is going great and my P-days are going to be on Mondays. Talk to you soon!


Elder Terry

Week 5

LETTER FROM JORDAN - WEEK 5 (7/9/14)

Well this concludes week 5 and the end of a big milestone in my mission: 1 month in, just 23 to go!!!

So the 4th of July was awesome here. All of the staff that work at our cafeteria decorated the room with red, white, and blue with flags everywhere. The food that they served was definitely interesting though. They had ham and turkey, which was pretty normal, but then they had this weird apple mush and this rice with raisins and stuff in it. I think it's funny what they think of American food. But it was really cool of them to go through all of the effort for us.

When we proselyte every other Saturday, they bus us all out about an hour away from the CCM in different groups, so we all go to different areas. And we actually teach people lessons, contact people, and get referrals. So it's the real deal. We have firesides twice a week, but we haven't had any general authorities visit. However, we do watch live broadcasts from the Provo MTC with general authorities.

Well this Tuesday I fly in to Trujillo to begin my life as a full time missionary. About 50% of the missionaries in my group are going to Trujillo and we are all flying together to the mission center next Tuesday. From what I've heard, we are going to be staying in some sort of apartment, but I get something called a "penstanista" that cooks all of our meals, does all of our laundry, etc. which will be very nice. My starting weight is 125 lbs, so it'll be interesting to see how much that fluctuates over the months.

The CCM experience was great and I learned a lot. I'm not exactly sure if I'm ready or not, but I feel way more prepared than I did a month ago.

Well, I don't have that much time this week so sorry if it's a little short, but it's always nice to hear from everyone that emails me.

Elder Terry

Week 4

LETTER FROM JORDAN - WEEK 4 (7/1/14)

Well that's the end of week 4. I officially move up from being an intermedio to an advanzado in my last 2 weeks in the CCM. So this week had a few more events than normal and a few changes too.

Okay to start off, I'm going to talk about proselyting this last Saturday. So my companion for that day was Elder Pulsipher who was an intermedio like me and we both were kind of at the same level of Spanish. Nothing was too eventful, but I went to the same place as 2 weeks ago which is supposedly the area with the people who talk fast Spanish. We taught a few more lessons with some inactive members and went street contacting again. I definitely was able to speak and understand way more Spanish because I didn't get a Latino companion. We also did way more walking this time which was hard because the whole city is on a hill so you have to take stairs to get everywhere. It was also fun because there were dogs everywhere that were either really friendly or wanted to bite your face off. But that day was great and really exhausting.

So apparently there are about 70 new missionaries coming in today and tomorrow. Yay! So there are going to be a few changes here. First off, they are making each of the districts bigger because they are limited in classrooms. So our district had 7 members which included our trio, a pair of Elders and a pair of Hermanas. But another district that had 6 members had to be split up to make more room. So 3 of the 6 are being added to our district, which also ends up changing our companionship. So Elder Allred is leaving our trio and getting his own companion and my companionship is back down to me and Elder Weber. I'm actually pretty excited for this to get back to a regular companionship and to get new people in our district. And also, Elder Weber is our district leader.

Also because of the huge influx of new missionaries, they have to change up our P-days a little. So I'm not positive, but I'm pretty sure that my P-day is going to be on Wednesday for next week, so my email day will have to change and probably by the time I get in the field, it will be on Mondays. Just an FYI.

So studies are getting better and more difficult. We are focusing a lot on heavy grammar concepts in Spanish, some of which are pretty difficult but I'm happy because a lot of it is stuff we should have been learning the first week here, but it's nice. I am working on memorizing a few more scriptures and I got Moroni 10:4-5 down. Overall, I am having a pretty good time getting better at Spanish and in teaching the doctrines of the gospel.

Oh I also recently found out that my companion from Saturday went to BYU-I last fall semester and stayed in Chapman Hall, like 4 doors down the row from my room, but we still didn't recognize each other.

Well, I think that will do it for this week and I am looking forward to the last 2 weeks in the CCM.

Elder Terry

p.s. I'm really glad that you guys put me through soccer even though I wasn't the best at it. Everyone loves me as a goalie and I get picked first for teams, like every time. I wish I could pay more attention to the Mundial (World Cup) though, haha.

Week 3

LETTER FROM JORDAN - WEEK 3 (6/24/14)

Week 3 is over and I am officially half way done with the CCM. This week was pretty uneventful, so I apologize if it is a little short.

This week the new batch of missionaries came in and for some reason, they all looked so young, like a lot of them didn't even look like they could be 18. But other than that, a lot of them are really cool and they can almost all sing really well so church improved just a little bit.

I get plenty of opportunities to use my talents in the CCM. Two Sundays ago I got to play piano in sacrament meeting and this Sunday I got to play at Priesthood meeting and at the devotional at night. The Spanish Hymn book is really interesting. There are just over 200 hymns and a lot of the hymns have the same tune as in English, but the words have a completely different message. And there are also a few hymns that are unique to the Spanish Hymn book. I don't know, I just find it really interesting.

The way the CCM is built is also pretty interesting. The whole area is surrounded by this 15 foot high concrete wall and there are only 2 entrances into it. Also whenever you leave or enter the CCM, you have to give them your name and some sort of ID so the area is really secure. Talk about being in the world and not of the world. The area inside is still really nice. There's a really nice turf field that everyone plays fútbol on during our physical activity time and there is also a nice voleyball court, some basketball courts, foosball tables, and ping pong tables so we have plenty to do during activity time.

The electricity in the facility is also pretty funny. After you turn on a light switch, you hear this weird buzzing sound and it takes about 10 seconds for the light to actually turn on. Also they have a system where all of the washing machines and dryers are all connected to the same breaker so they all turn off at the same time about every 10 minutes which makes doing laundery even more fun. But all of the computers are pretty nice here. We actually have this program on the computers that we use all of the time to assist us with learning Spanish so it's kinda nice to get a break from the books and study on computers.

Our room has 6 beds, but we only were using 4 before we got Elder Allred so he just moved right in, and we still have an extra bed open. I guess I'm starting to get used to the schedule here but it is still pretty packed all of the time. I miss listening to music a lot because they don't allow any music here in the CCM but I hope I can in the field. Our mission president also visited the CCM to talk to all of the people going to Trujillo. He said that the temple will be done in about a year and we will all have the opportunity to visit it. I can't wait to get out in the field to teach the great people of Perú.

The classes we are in are starting to focus more on teaching the gospel to people rather than learning Spanish which I kinda expected about now. We have a few fake investigators that we have to teach every day to help us learn how to teach more effectively. Spanish is definitely becoming more and more easy to listen to and speak which is awesome to see how fast we are all learning, and I'm even starting to memorize a few scriptures in Spanish and I already got down the First Vision and Moroni 10: 4-5.

To close off this letter, I just want to bear my testimony in Spanish:
Yo sé que La Iglesia de Jesucristo de los Santos de los Últimos Días es la iglesia verdadera en la tierra. Yo sé que El Libro de Mormón estuve traducido por medio del profeta, José Smith y que él fue el primer profeta en los últimos días. También sé que Thomas S. Monson es un profeta en hoy día y que él recibe revelación por todas las personas en el mundo. Yo sé que estoy en el lugar donde debo estar y también estoy aquí por un razón. Yo quiero enseñar a toda la gente aquí y quiero que ellos pueden sentir el Espíritu Santo para saber que este Evangelio es verdadero. Yo sé que misioneros son mensajeros de Dios y digo estas cosas en el nombre de Jesucristo, Amen.

Elder Terry

Week 2

LETTER FROM JORDAN - WEEK 2 (6/17/14)

Week 2 was great! And I can't believe that I've already gone through 2 weeks. With such a compact schedule, the time just flies by a lot.

So there's been a sickness going throughout the CCM (MTC in Spanish (Centro de Capacitación Misional)), and I just got it yesterday SO I'm just a little under the weather with a scratchy throat and a runny nose, but thatdoes not distract me from my work. And the CCM is really small compared to most of the other MTCs, like we only have three separate buildings in the whole area and now that all of the Latinos have left because their 2 weeks are up, the place is pretty empty with probably around only 50 or 60 people. But we get the new batch of missionaries tomorrow and I've heard that there are only 7 new Latinos and 20 North Americans.

Studies are kinda weird right now having to do most of the things in Spanish. What I do to study is read it in Spanish and then read it in English to make sure that I'm understanding most of what's going on. But my Spanish has definitely been improving, and I can keep a steady conversation with anyone who speaks slow enough.

So this Saturday we took a bus like an hour away from the CCM and got out at a very interesting town in Lima. I wish I had my camera so you could see how interesting this town looked. All of the houses were just piled along this mountainside and most of the houses were only made of concrete and nothing else. It was a very interesting opportunity that we had to go proselyte in this town. It was amazing to see how willing almost every person is to hear about our gospel. So I got paired with a Latino companion for the day to proselyte, and he kinda did most of the talking. Practically all I could do was just bear my testimony at what he was talking about, but it was still amazing that I could still bring the Spirit with something so simple.

So the food is starting to get a little repetitive, having rice and some sort of meat for lunch and dinner and having eggs every morning, but it is still good.

Also this past Friday, I received a new companion because his companion had a personal issue that made him choose to go home. But I am grateful to have added Elder Allred from Utah to our companionship. He is really blonde and really tall so he looks like the exact opposite of everyone in this country. He also has a great sense of humor and is really in tune with the spirit, which makes teaching really nice.

So today was a repeat of the last P-day, but we went to the 7:30am temple session so we had to get up at 5:30am, which was pretty difficult on all of us. After the session, we just walked around again and bought a few groceries that we needed for the week. I also managed to squeeze in an hour nap before coming to go type this.

Well that concludes my second week here in the CCM

Elder Terry

Week 1

LETTER FROM JORDAN - WEEK 1 (6/10/14)

I'm having a great time here learning more about the language and the gospel.
So I arrive from my flight in Georgia and I make my way over to the terminal and I just find this huge group of people in suits, all from the US going to Peru. By the time we left the airport, there were over 30 missionaries on the plane which is funny because there are only about 120 people in the MTC right now.

My missionary companion is great. His name is Elder Weber and he is from Oregon and just got done with high school. We definitely are really different with him being more into sports and athletic activities, but we still work great together.
I love Spanish. Mostly everything that I learned back in high school came back to me and I don't have too much trouble speaking to the latinos in the MTC. There are about 50 of the missionaries who are from the US and the rest from places like Peru and Ecuador and they are all so friendly and really funny.

The schedules for each day are packed down to the minute and I always find myself really tired. But the rate at which we are learning both the gospel and Spanish is incredible.

So if you haven't noticed, my Pdays are on Tuesday so that's when Ill be emailing. So today we went to the temple and it was really cool. The whole session took place in the same room until we went through the veil. We had to do the talk in Spanish so they gave us a card to use which was really interesting. Then we walked around the city and bought some cool stuff. I have decided that the Peruvians drive with one hand on the horn. They're driving is insane; there is no way that I could ever drive here. And just an FYI, we are only allowed to take pictures on Pday.

Every other Saturday they let us go proselyting in the city so we get to do that this week. There is this weird smell that this city has and everything just feels so different.

Also the food that they give us is great. We get plenty of meat and I've tried a lot of things including the fish which isn't that bad.

Let the family know that I miss all of them and that I'm having a great time and I'm glad that I decided to make this choice.

Thanks,
Elder Terry


Oh yah and the weather is really strange. Every day is cloudy and foggy, no matter what time of day it is. The sun has only come out once in the afternoon but other than that, it is pretty dull. The temperatures are mostly in the 60s so I've been wearing my long sleeve shirts most of the time. And along with the fog comes a lot of moisture so its not really dry like we thought.
Oh well, till we meet again.

Letter from Mission Pres

First Letter from the Mission President

April 8,2014

Dear Elder Terry,
Please open the attachment to read a letter from President and Sister Marler.
Please forward this to your parents and it will be helpful in helping them prepare for your mission.
We have a mission blog, please pass this on to your parents as well. We have regular entries about our missionaries and our mission activities.

www.kurtandkathymarler.blogspot.com

We look forward to meeting you.

Sincerely,
President and Sister Marler

Dear  Elder Terry,

     Congratulations on your call to the Perú Trujillo Mission.  We are thankful that the Lord has selected you to join us here to serve the people of Perú.  You will find the people here, loving, kind, gracious and prepared to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  It is our privilege to work with the descendants of the people of the Book of Mormon, of whom it was said, “I will establish my church among them, and they shall come in unto the covenant and be numbered among this the remnant of Jacob, unto whom I have given this land for their inheritance. (3 Nephi 21:22).

    We have been praying for you, we love you.  Our desire is for you to have great spiritual experience as you serve the Lord in this part of His vineyard.  We are here to assist you in this pursuit.  Please take this time to prepare yourself for your mission.  Continue in your study of the Book of Mormon and also, Preach My Gospel.  Strive each day to become more like the Savior, study his attributes and continue to develop them in your life (D&C 4:6).

     If you have not already done so, please make arrangements to go to the temple soon and attend as regularly as possible.  Some temples allow newly called missionaries to serve as ordinance workers prior to their mission, you may contact your temple president and ask if this is possible in your area.  A Temple is under construction here in Trujillo, and we are preparing everyone to receive the eternal blessings and ordinances that await them in the House of the Lord.

     We testify to you that Jesus is the Christ, that His Gospel is true and that this, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is his only true church on the earth today.  We testify that there are many people waiting for your arrival to hear the Saviors message.  We promise you that as you live worthy to have the Holy Ghost as your constant companion, you will see miracles in your life, the lives of your family members and in the lives of those you teach in the mission field.  The Holy Ghost will lead you and guide you to find those who have been prepared to hear the gospel message from you. 

     We look forward to seeing you soon in Trujillo. 

With love,

President Kurt Marler

Sister Kathy Marler

Pics of Lima MTC and Temple

This is an old friend who Jordan's Uncle, Jeff Dangl, knew from when he served his mission in Peru 20 years ago.

Jordan and his 2 companions visiting the Lima Peru Temple on P-Day

Pics of Jordan heading to airport

June 3, 2014 - Fly Delta out of John Wayne, OC