Week 82

LETTER FROM JORDAN - WEEK 82 (12/28/15)

Merry Christmas to all!

Well this was an amazing week especially to be here in the mission. Although it is always hard to be away from home for the Christmas season, these feelings were filled with all of the love that we received here in the mission.

I would also like to apologize for the lack of pictures due to my camara getting misplaced, but I will try to make up for it with some nice descriptions! haha

Well to start off the Christmas season, we set up our Christmas tree (the same one as last year passed by my companion) to lighten our room with the Christmas Spirit. On Christmas Eve, we were invitied to a huge Christmas dinner put on by the zone leaders for our zone of missionaries. We started the night watching Polar Express (with permission from the mission office) and were then treated to an amazing dinner, which consisted of a lot of turkey, french fries, and salad, accompanied with soda and an amazing peruvian fruit smoothie. After we were all full, we did a little Secret Santa gift exchange and had a lot of fun.

We then started Christmas day traveling down to Trujillo to have a devotional and a talent show with our President and the office. There we heard from Presidente and Hermana Marler and afterward had a talent show put on by the missionaries in all of the mission. Our zone did an act with a cake eating competition while all of us sang Christmas songs to root them on. After this activity, we head back to our areas to go talk with our friends and family. I got to see all of my family and a few of my friends who I have not seen in many months. It was amazing and it made me feel like Christmas back at home.

Here is a video of part of the Skype call where my parents had me speak Spanish.

Well that's all to report for this week, and may you all have a happy New Year 2016!

Elder Terry

Week 81

LETTER FROM JORDAN - WEEK 81 (12/21/15)

Well this was an amazing week here in the Peru Trujillo North Mission.

This week we had our huge annual Christmas Program in the Town Square in Trujillo so we had to do a lot of preparation and we had a pretty crazy schedule too.

So the program was for two nights, on Friday 18th and Saturday 19th, which I was able to participate in both days because the special numbers were played both nights.

So on Friday, we traveled down at around 11a and practiced until the show at 7p. It ended around 10p and we weren't able to go to bed until about 1a. It was super fun because we also had a temple session the next day at 7:30a so we had to get up at 6a to make it on time. Then afterward, we had more practice and the next show at 7p. After the show, we bused back to our area and made it back at about 12:30a. So let's just say Sunday was really difficult. haha.

So for the program, I was able to participate in many numbers. I played the piano for most of the choir numbers, and also played piano for a duet of Silent Night/Still Still Still with Hermana Pineda and Hermana Smith. I was also part of 2 small a capella group's that sang pentatonix's Mary Did You Know and Carol of the Bells:

But the coolest number that I was able to do was a tenor sax/piano duet on O Tannenbaum from Charlie Brown. It turned out awesome and the crowd and missionaries loved it.

I would have a lot more and some cooler pictures, but I lost my camara in the crazyness and am still searching for it, so there might not be many pictures in the coming weeks.

To see read and see more pictures about the concert, click on our mission blog here.

Well I'm really looking forward to this Christmas, and especially the Skype call home that I get to talk "face to face" with my friends and family. I wish all of you a happy holiday season and especially this time to remember Jesus' birth and everything that we have because he was born.

MERRY CHRISTMAS :)
from Elder Jordan Terry

Week 80

LETTER FROM JORDAN - WEEK 80 (12/14/15)

Well there goes another amazing week in the mission, and maybe one of the most memorable weeks I have ever had!

Ok so I found out a little while ago that my first converts, Brenda and Necker, had planned on getting sealed on December 12! Just over a year ago, on November 12, 2014, Elder Cuevas and I helped both of them get married and on November 14, Hermana Brenda was baptized and we helped Necker become active again. Of course doing all of that was all with the temple in mind, but I didn't imagine that the time would come so fast!

But with this news, there came some bad news. I really wanted to go, but there was a really important practice for the Missionary Christmas Program that we have for this week, so Hermana Marler told me that I wasn't going to be able to go to their sealing. It was also sad because that same day we planned to go down with our branch and our convert to go do temple baptisms for the first time.

We don't know why, but all of the sudden this Christmas practice was cancelled, and we were able to travel down with our branch to go see the temple sealing and to help our convert Victor do a baptism for his dad. It was probably the happiest day of my whole life, and I think the happiest day in their lives too!
The Cipirán Family:

 The Cipirán Chávez Family:

 The new sealed family (Necker, Brenda, and Camila):

 Victor Guanilo, who even with knee problems did baptisms in the temple:

 Also here is my companion, Elder Alles:

He is from Argentina and he only has 5 months in the mission. It is still his first area here in San Pedro and he is super cool. He is 20 years old, and a convert of only 2 years. It is super awesome to have a convert testimony so he can really relate to all of the people here.

Well that's all I have time here for this week, and until the next!

Elder Terry

Week 79

LETTER FROM JORDAN - WEEK 79 (12/7/15)

Well that was an awesome week here in San Pedro, getting to know my new area and meeting all of the good people here.

San Pedro de Lloc is in the Guadalupe Zone which is one of the zones that was added on to the mission with the big mission split. Our area consists of a small city with also a few other little towns close by. This zone reminds me a lot of my first area Chocope, with all of the cities separated from each other, except this area is a little bigger than Chocope and way more beautiful. Over in Chocope they grow sugar cane, while over here all of the cities are surrounded by rice farms and everything is just a little more green. The area isn't super poor but there are a few more humble places too.
It has some more city type places:

But it is also super nice on the outer parts of the city:

And it is all surrounded by the rice fields:

Our branch is also pretty cool. We share the area with a companionship of hermanas, Hermana South and Hermana Canizales, both of them having been in my districts before. Our branch normally has an attendance of around 80 people and there are so many less-active members here. All of the members are super cool and our branch president is a really strong member and really good at directing the branch. But one of the cool parts about the branch is how awesome our church is. It is all hidden behind a wall with just a large wooden door:

 But once you go in it is super nice!

 And here is the back patio:

Well there is definitely a lot of work to do here and I'm super excited for all of the things we have planned for this week!

Elder Terry

Week 78

LETTER FROM JORDAN - WEEK 78 (11/30/15)

Well that was an awesome week, and I got a lot to write but a little time, so here we go!

Well as you all know this week was Thanksgiving week, so being in Peru you would assume that no one celebrates it, which is true, but we ended up celebrating it Peruvian style. It turns out, we actually had 2 Thanksgiving dinners this week! On Thursday, we had a huge zone lunch where each of the missionaries brought something to eat and we ended up having a huge feast! (we made the brownies)

I have to say I am really grateful especially to be here on the mission and for all of the things that I have learned and have yet to learn. I am also grateful for all of the members that are here who are all helping with the work of the Lord here in Trujillo, and very grateful for all of my family and friends that are all supporting me here and continue to help me in the work.

Well now it's time for some news! First of all, we got an official letter from the general offices of the Church that have extended everyone's missions an extra 2 weeks. So in stead of being picked up by my parents May 15, it is going to be May 29. I hope you can all wait a few extra weeks before seeing me again and I'm sure it will be worth it!

Well, this week is also the transfers in our mission, and now that I have finished my training with Elder Smith, it looks like it's time for a transfer! I have been sent... to........ San Pedro de Lloc in the Guadalupe Zone!!! It is a new part of our mission that we got when the limits changed and it's about an hour more north from my first area, Chocope. I am going to be with Elder Alles from Argentina and I am going to be there as a district leader. Wow. Crazy stuff.

Here's Zona Central that I was in for 6 months:

So because it is kind of far, I have to travel over there today, which didn't give me much time to say goodbye to every one, but I was able to stop by a few. Here's one that always has the tradition to cut the missionary's tie when they leave, so it was inevitable:

Well it looks like it's time to meet some new people and to have some more amazing experiences. Until next week!

Elder Terry

Week 77

LETTER FROM JORDAN - WEEK 77 (11/23/15)

Another great week in the service of the Lord.

This week we were able to have a few very interesting lessons. We received a referral for an investigator this week and went to go contact it, but when we showed up it turned out to be the address of some baptist school or something. We knocked on the door on Thursday, found the person we were looking for, and set up an appointment for the next day. Then we showed up for our appointment and it turned into a discussion between us and 5 other baptist students. They were curious about our doctrine of the plan of salvation and had some sort of project for their school to talk with us and find out what we believe. It was a really interesting visit, and one of the things that I learned is that all of the doctrines from the other churches are based on their own interpretations of the Bible and what we teach is more than just the Bible, but the fullness of the gospel in all scripture, old and new.

We also set up a different appointment with Inma and her family. She's been having some difficulties feeling forced to get married even though she really doesn't want to, so with the advice of our mission president, we went to the temple with them to do a lesson in the gardens of the temple. We talked about marriage, families, baptism, and especially the temple ordinance of sealing. It was amazing how strong they were able to feel the Spirit there and how it testified of the possibility of eternal families.
Inma and her daughters: Lucia, Ainara, and Maider

Also on Sunday we had a stake missionary fireside in our own stake, where we got to perform a few more numbers. We played an arrangement of Silent Night on saxophone:

 But we also did a really cool number that had a SATB quartet with a piano and violin:

It all turned out amazing!

Well another week more in the mission, and loving almost every minute of it. haha
But I am so gratefull for all of the things that I have learned and am still learning here with the help of the Lord.

Elder Terry

Week 76

LETTER FROM JORDAN - WEEK 76 (11/16/15)

Well that was another amazing week in the mission!

We've been working really hard this week and it appears that we have a few people that are progressing really well. This week we were also blessed to have a rescued soul come back to church, Teresa Perez who's husband had recently passed away. It is amazing to see how ready these people are and she is now in Temple prep class getting ready for her ordinances.

Another random pic of our area at sunset:

This week we also were able to have our interviews with President Marler, Hermana Marler, and the Asistentes. I don't know if I ever told you this, but one of our asistents is Elder Bond which happened to be my first district leader when I had just gotten into the field. He always tells me about how much I have progressed, and I say the same about him. Anyways, President talked to us about how the state of our hearts are and what we can do to keep our hearts focused on the work. Hermana Marler talked about how to teach by talking less and using more teaching tools to help them understand, and the Asistentes talked about how to help the investigators feel the Spirit in order to accept a baptismal date. We learned a lot of great stuff!

Also on Sunday I was asked to participate in a Stake Fireside in the Esperanza Stake put on by the missionaries. I got to play piano for a few of the numbers and I also got to play a piano and saxophone duet for Abide With Me. It turned out amazing!

For more pictures from this fireside, click here to view the mission blog.

We are also going to have another Fireside, but this time in our stake this Sunday, which I am looking forward to.

Well, as my mom reminded me, the days are just ticking by. Exactly 6 months from today will be my last day in the field, so you know what that means! Time to work even harder! I cannot believe how little time I have and I will make sure to use it all how I should!

Elder Terry

Week 75

LETTER FROM JORDAN - WEEK 75 (11/9/15)

Well this was a pretty awesome week.

One of the many great privileges that I get as a district leader is the chance to be able to do the baptismal interviews of the investigators that the missionaries are teaching in my district. This week I was able to do my first baptismal interview to two separate investigators. It was really a wonderful opportunity and I feel like it will be the first of many interviews in the future.

This week my companion and I have been able to learn a lot from each other and we are pretty impressed at the progress that we have both gone through. This week we were able to do splits and be able to see how much we have learned about the mission and also about our area.

We are also excited for this coming week to be able have our interviews with President Marler and to be able to learn about the things that we can improve as missionaries (as there always are) and to have his help and suggestions.

I took a picture of whats called the mercado Santa Rosa which is right outside of our room from the view of one of our progressing investigator's house.

Well everything is going great for me, and I will write back next week!

Elder Terry

Week 74

LETTER FROM JORDAN - WEEK 74 (11/2/15)

Well there flies by another week in the mission!

Well I would like to take a little bit to talk about our district. Being a district leader comes with many blessings, like being able to plan some of our P-days, teaching them weekly about how to improve our missionary abilities, and just getting to know the other missionaries. This is our district:

On the left we have Hermana Stewart and Hermana Coleman who are sharing the ward with us in Vista Alegre, and on the right we have Hermana Olson and Hermana Beasley in the California Ward. And their personalities are pretty well described in the picture. Hermana Olson and Elder Smith also came into the mission at the same time so they are both in training. It really is a blessing to be able to work with such great hermanas.

Also as requested from my Mom, I took a few pictures of our area in Vista Alegre to get the general idea of our proselyting conditions:

And of course, this week was also Halloween! The hermanas in our ward decided to do a little bit of Frozen. Our costumes were a little more limited, but it turned out pretty cool. Oh and the dog of our pension gladly helped us out with the display:

Well we got another full week ahead of us, and another great week in the work of the Lord.

Elder Terry

Week 73

LETTER FROM JORDAN - WEEK 73 (10/26/15)

Well this was a pretty eventful week here in the Peru Trujillo North Mission.

On Wednesday, we had a meeting for trainers and new missionaries where we were able to see our progress and find out how to improve our companionship's and to communicate more to each other. We were also able to go to the temple at 6am to do a temple session and have a stronger Spirit throughout the meeting.

Also from Tuesday to Thursday we had another companionship of Elders who were also in their training stay and proselyte with us. We were with Elder Price from the same group as me and his son, Elder Logan. We got to do some splits and my companion got to see how much he had improved from the beginning.

On Friday we also had a ward missionary activity called "noche de postres" or dessert night. We coordinated with the members and were able to bring a lot of desserts and we personally were able to make some rico brownies. We had a lesson and a video and then just had fun eating up. Man they do love their desserts!

Then on Saturday we helped the Sisters in our ward move rooms, because they didn't have hot water, the electricity was terrible and they had an occasional rat that came by to visit them. But now they have a nice 2 story department, which is pretty awesome.

Last but not least, on Sunday we had a really cool and new type of stake conference. It was a broadcast that was shown in stake centers throughout all of Peru and Bolivia. We got to hear from Marcus B. Nash from the Seventy, Ulisses Soares from the Presidency of the Seventy, and also from Elder Anderson of the Twelve. They all gave their talks in Spanish which was super interesting especially with Elder Anderson who served his mission in France and lived in Brazil, so it turned out with a Spanish talk with a English/French/Portugese accent. He talked mainly about being a light and an example and how we can sacrifice to do these things.

Well that's all I got for this week, and even though there are many hard times, we are also able to see many miracles.

Elder Terry

Week 72

LETTER FROM JORDAN - WEEK 72 (10/19/15)

Well that was a pretty interesting week. To start off, we had the baptismal interview for Inma and her family. We were super excited and felt that they were super prepared, but as one of the zone leaders walked out of the interview with Inma he told us that she was not married and she lives with her husband. So it turns out that they are either going to have to wait and get married or be separated so we are now in the process of getting all of their papers to get them married! (which might take a few months)

But on the bright side we were able to talk to the dad a little bit and he told us how happy he was to see all of the changes in Inma and his family and he is now willing to start listening to the Gospel. I just hope I'll be here for their baptism!

Also this week we had the privilege to listen to an Area Seventy, Elder Calderón from Perú. His talk was amazing! It wasn't really centered on one specific point, but hit a whole bunch according to our needs. He talked about just being happy while we're proselyting, the importance of the Spirit to change the people, and much more. I love being able to listen to these people that receive revelation specifically for us.

Also, here are some pictures of the room we are renting in Vista Alegre:

Well this week was a rollercoaster, but it is all worth it for the great moments that we get as missionaries. Thanks for all of your support!

Elder Terry

Week 71

LETTER FROM JORDAN - WEEK 71 (10/12/15)

Well I guess I forgot to take pictures this week so this is going to be a little more boring haha, however, here is a link to the mission blog and it has me in a few pictures there: http://kurtandkathymarler.blogspot.com/2015/10/mutli-zone-conference-with-sierra.html and here: http://kurtandkathymarler.blogspot.com/2015/10/christmas-in-october.html

Well this week was kind of a rollercoaster for me, full of some amazing days but also with a few difficult moments. I am now beginning to see how much the Lord is able to work through us in everything that we do. I was able to see this most with the family that we are teaching with Inma, Lucía, Ainara, and Myder. With their baptismal date approaching we got to talk about their desires about being baptized and we were shocked to hear that the mom was completely ready for her baptism, but the 2 daughters old enough said that they still didn't feel prepared. This worried us a little, meaning that we would have to be baptized on 2 different days or we would have to postpone the baptism. So we got to work. We worked really hard on helping them understand that it is not required to have a perfect knowledge about everything that we had taught but rather how they feel making this step and the importance of the baptismal covenant. After a few lessons they told us that they are ready, and we are really looking forward to their baptism this Saturday, which will be my companions first.

We are also already practicing for the Christmas program that we are going to be doing in Trujillo's Plaza de Armas and it looks like it's going to be a great show. We are going to be singing a few Pentatonix numbers including Mary Did You Know and Carol of the Bells, which are already sonding really good. I also get to play my saxophone in a number and my companion is going to do a juggling act with one of the Asistents. It's going to be great!

Well that's about all I got for this week and we are looking forward to hearing from Elder Calderón, an area Seventy, this week. And the work is hastended.

Elder Terry

Week 70

LETTER FROM JORDAN - WEEK 70 (10/5/15)

Well this was a pretty awesome week here in the mission!

The week started of great with a really cool p-day. We went over to a place in Trujillo called Conache which is a place that has a nice park and lagoon and is known for it's sand surfing hill. We started off eating lunch in the park and relaxing:

Afterward we decided it would be a good idea to clime the sand dune (in the backround) and it turned out to be a lot steeper than we thought:

But then we finally made it to the top and took some sweet pictures of the view:

After all of the work climbing up the hill, we ended up just running down in a manner of 2 minutes ending up with our shoes literally full of sand:

Well other than all of that, we also had a really spiritual week. It started with a Multi-Zone meeting that we had with us the Zona Central, Zona Primavera, y Zona Sierra. My companion and I learned a lot for our investigators and especially to help them understand the invitation of coming unto Christ. If you ask any one if they want to come unto Christ over 90% of them would say yes, but few are willing to put in the action to do it.

The next two days we were able to listen to the General Conference (in English) and I learned a lot! One of the talks that I really liked was by Elder Christofferson who talked about the purpose of having a church and not just worshipping Christ on our own, which is something that only a few people understand here.

Well another great week in the mission and really looking forward to what's ahead.

Elder Terry