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