Week 34

LETTER FROM JORDAN - WEEK 34 (1/26/15)

Well this week was jam packed, so let's see if I can get to it all!

So it starts Tuesday morning where, during studies, I finished reading the Book of Mormon for the first time in another language! I had started reading back in August and read like 20 minutes every day we had studies, and I finally finished it on January 20, 2015.

Then the same morning, we had interviews with the mission president, where we got to see how we have been doing in our areas, show our area book to Sister Marler, and practice teaching the Sabbath Day to the president's assistants.

Directly after the interviews, we headed over to the pension in Ascope to prepare a surprise party for a sister missionary in our district, Hermana Mason. We had lunch with cake, soda, and other Peruvian pastries:

 And ended with a cake in the face:

Also during this week, my companion got a little sick with what we think was a parasite, and was confined to the room on Wednesday. So that day, I got to go out to proselyte with another member, which was great because it was one of the few times where I was "in charge" of who we went to visit.

Also on Friday, we did another interchange, where I stayed in Chocope with Elder Quispe, which was another opportunity of being the senior companion in my area.

Later that night, our branch's only full time missionary came back from serving in the Perú Arequipa Mission. Although there was no huge welcome party, it is great to have another return missionary in our branch.

Ok. Here comes the big announcement:

On Sunday we had a branch conference, where a few of the stake leaders came to make a few announcements. This day, we had the highest church attendance that I had ever seen in our branch, 43 people. We had a goal to hit 40 during this change and we did it! But wait, there's more! The big announcement of the conference was that we got a new Branch President! His name is Iván Salvatierra, and he actually lives in our area (unlike our past one). He had been branch president before, so he has enough experience to help improve our branch. Also, the return missionary was called as the branch secretary, 2 days after being home from his mission.

Well this was a great week for us here in Chocope, and the work will strongly press forward!

Elder Terry

Week 33

LETTER FROM JORDAN - WEEK 33 (1/19/15)

Another week down in the mission and this week marked 6 months of being in my first area, Chocope!

Well this week, we did another interchange. I went to Ascope again with Elder Quispe, and Elder Johnson went to Chocope with my companion. The interchange was great except for one thing. In their area, they play soccer every morning before breakfast with the young men in their ward to help strengthen their organization. So I was forced to get up at 4:50 in the morning just to go play soccer for about an hour. It was a lot of fun, but at night, I don't think I've ever been so tired or slept so well in my whole life.

ATENCIÓN ATENCIÓN ATENCIÓN ATENCIÓN ATENCIÓN ATENCIÓN
Announcement time!
So while I was in Ascope, someone showed me something that will change my life and the lives of every person in the surrounding area....
THE TEMPLE DEDICATION DATE!!!
So the Trujillo Temple, which was announced back in 2009, officially has the dates of the open house and dedication:
Open House: May 8 - May 30, excluding Sundays (10, 17, 24)
Cultural Celebration: Saturday June 20
Dedication: Sunday June 21, broadcasting to stake centers in the area at 9a, 12p, and 3p.
It's official, we get to have a temple dedicated during my mission, in my mission!


Also on Saturday, we had a huge primary activity, where we had about 10 kids, and with their parents, there were 22 people. Thats a pretty big number with a church attendance of about 30. It was great! We played telephone, guess that animal, ate a lot, shared a message, played musical chairs, and then everyone tried out my companion's horse mask:

 

Best. Activity. Ever.

Well we now got the temple coming in, and our mission president is trying to get us to help with the open house as tour guides or something. I'm super excited! Thanks for doing everything you do for me. The mission has shown me how great you guys really are and I didn't appreciate that too much before, but thanks.


The tiredness is never-ending but the work presses forward.

Well that's all I got for this week, and I will report back soon!


Elder Terry

Week 32

LETTER FROM JORDAN - WEEK 32 (1/12/15)

Another week gone by in the Peru Trujillo Mission!

Well this week we were able to get another Alma Rescatada! Luisana is 10 years old, and the older sister of Miguel who just got baptized. She was baptized just over a year ago, but became less active due to the lack of kids that were going to church. So now that we have started up the Primary program, and because we were working with Miguel, we got to rescue her and get her back active in the church.

On Saturday we also had an interchange as a district where we traded places with the Elders in Ascope. I went over to Ascope with Elder Johnson and we had a blast. I got to meet a few of his investigators, got to know wis area a little bit, and got attacked by a whole bunch of kids. It was a pretty good day.

On Sunday, I also found out that I got a package... I open it up and dump it out and this is what I see:

 Like 50 presents each individually wrapped. It took a while to open them up, but it was worth it to see all of the presents that our stake had prepared for the missionaries

It honestly completely lightened up my day and I want to thank everyone from the ward, including my family, that helped to prepare this wonderful package for me :)

And the work presses forward here in Chocope. Until next week!

Elder Terry

Week 31

LETTER FROM JORDAN - WEEK 31 (1/5/15)

Well, it's now been 7 months that I've been in Perú and things are going great!
There's not too much to report on, but here we go.

Well as you know, New Year's was this week and it was pretty cool. So Peruvians have a pretty cool tradition that they do on New Year's where they make like a doll/scarecrow thing. They stuff clothes with a whole bunch of straw and also hide small fireworks in it and then at midnight, they burn it all. Sadly, I don't have any pictures this time, but take my word that it's pretty cool.

Well there's not much else that went on this week event wise, but as a companionship, we are working super hard to strengthen our primary program. About a month ago, we wouldn't have any kids going to church due to the lack of supplies and other kids. So with the baptism that we just had, we've decided to go all out on our primary. Now, we have about 6 kids going every week, with a lot of activities for them.

Also, we had 7 people at church yesterday that aren't members, which was about 1/5th of who went in total yesterday, so I think it was a pretty successful week for our Branch.

Other than that, just an update on my finger:

The black part finally fell off, and the rest just needs to grow back and it's back to normal!

Welp, that's all I got for this week, so until the next!

Elder Terry