Week 45

LETTER FROM JORDAN - WEEK 45 (4/13/15)

Well I spent most of my time this morning trying to fix some camera memory problems and getting the pictures for this email that I am only left with 4 minutes to write this email so here goes!

P-day, we were able to go to the Huaca de la Luna, an ancient pyramid/temple ruin:

The era of these people that left these ruins goes from about 100 AD - 600 AD, just about the time of the Nephites and Lamanites in the end of the Book of Mormon and the beginning of the Great Apostasy. It's really interesting to see all of this stuff with the small knowledge of the people who actually lived there.

Later this week, we were able to have a missionary night, where we got to watch the new move, "Efraim's Rescue." We had to leave only after 30 minutes of the move because of another appointment we had, but it seems to be a really good movie.

Also, on Saturday my brother from the house I live in got baptized!

His dad got to baptize him, and Elder Passey also showed up unexpectedly, which was really great for everyone.

There you go, I finally got a picture with my companion!

Well it was a really nice week that we had here, and there is more to come! It is great to see the changes that have occurred in the people that we are teaching and their desires to come unto Christ.

Well, until the next week!

Elder Terry

Week 44

LETTER FROM JORDAN - WEEK 44 (4/6/15)

Well this was one of the coolest weeks I've had so far.

It started with a surprise announcement on Sunday night that we were to be having interviews with President Marler, Hermana Marler, and the Assistants Tuesday morning. Normally, we get a little more preparation than that, but our studies on those days were super powerful.
In the interviews, President Marler talked to us a lot about faith and miracles, how we literally can have the power to move mountains and to command the seas, and he asked us what's holding us back.
Hermana Marler talked a lot about Christ, how every principle we teach has to do with Christ and we should be talking about Him in every moment. She gave us a new copy of the Book of Mormon and asked us to read it and highlight every time it mentions a name of Christ.
For the Assistants, we had to share a lesson in 5 minutes and afterward talked about the importance of teaching clearly and simply and emphasized using the lesson pamphlets during our teaching.

On Friday, we had a big, 3 stake Easter Fireside in our church building, which had Mormon Messages, a choir of missionaries, special musical numbers by missionaries, and testimonies from the 3 stake presidents and President Marler. It was a really spiritual experience and there were a whole lot of people that were able to feel the same. Most of the people here only recognize Easter as the Crucifixion of Christ, but we helped them understand that we believe in a living God who guides the church today.

Afterward, on Saturday and Sunday, we were privileged to hear the counsels of the latter-day prophets. I would just like to share one of my favorite quotes that Elder Relund shared. He talked to us about repentance and how our church is not a church of perfect people, but a church where every one can go to be spiritually uplifted. He said, "A saint is a sinner who keeps on trying." There are a few people that are offended that we call ourselves "Latter-day Saints" because we are far from being "saints." But we know we are saints because we are constantly in the battle to keep doing what we know is right.

Today we are planning on going to a Huaca (like an ancient ruin that makes a hill shape) so there will be pictures. I will report back soon!

Elder Terry

Week 43

LETTER FROM JORDAN - WEEK 43 (3/30/15)

There goes my first week with my new companion, Elder Pre.

Well I forgot to take any pictures, and I don't have to much to write about so this letter will be pretty short.

So... Elder Pre!
He's from Lima, Perú; he has about 14 months in the mission; he has been in Zona Este, Zona Esperanza, and he just came from Otuzco, the only part of the mission that's in the mountains: and he's ready to work hard.

It's been a while since I've had a companion that doesn't speak English, so I'm getting a lot of really good Spanish practice from my companion. It's nice because I'm actually able to communicate in Spanish so I can talk freely with my companion.

Here in Perú, they don't just celebrate Easter Sunday, they celebrate the whole week. One of the activities that we are having is this Friday, and it's going to be a three-stake devotional with music, videos, and testimonies from the three stake presidents and our mission president. It's kind of a big deal. On Saturday, we had a rehearsal for the choir and for the special music numbers and it's going to be really good. My parent's sent me my saxophone from home, so it may be the best devotional ever.

At the rehearsals on Saturday, President shows up with his parents and my saxophone!
When I opened it, there was a paper saying that it was inspected, but everything was in the case, without damage. The case even has some sweet fragile stickers on it now. haha.

A lot of the missionaries that entered in the field with me have moved up. Some of them are senior companions, some are training, and one is in the office as secretary. I still feel like I'm really new in the mission, but leadership positions are coming!

Also, on Saturday and Sunday we are going to have General Conference, so it is going to be a really spiritual week.

So in our area, we live with the Regalado family, and they cook for us too. In Trujillo, they have a sweet laundry system where one guy picks up our clothes every week and drops it off the next day, which is a really good system.

Well that's all I got for this week, and I'll make sure to get a picture with my companion for next week. Thanks for all of your support for the missionaries around the world.

Elder Terry

Week 42

LETTER FROM JORDAN - WEEK 42 (3/23/15)

Well 42 weeks have past, and now I have just completed 7 transfers (periods of 6 weeks) and that means that it's time for a change!

But to start off, I'll talk a little bit about our last P-day. So last Monday, one of the missionaries in our district, Sister Nielson, found out that she had a huge gall-bladder inflammation and had to be sent home, so that day was her last day. So, we decided to do just about everything possible. We started going shopping in a marked called Avenida España. We then head over to McDonald's and had lunch. After we decided we would have enough time to go through Trujillo's main archaeological tourist spot "Chan-Chan", and we all ended up running through the whole thing.

It was one of the coolest things I had seen. Afterwards, we had the opportunity to go as a district to the airport to drop her off on her plane. Airports are sad places for missionaries.
Overall, we had a really good day and bonded a lot as a district.

Here's a sweet picture that I was able to take proselyting right during a sunset in our area.

On Saturday night, we also got the opportunity to take our recent convert, Ernesto, and his mom to go visit the temple and take some pictures. we made it by sunset so I got some sweet pics:

I still can't believe that I get to be in a mission that has a temple dedication while I'm there. With the temple in Trujillo, we get plenty of opportunities to talk about it and explain all of the blessings we can get from this building.

Okay. Now to the interesting part. THE CHANGES!!!
Yesterday, we got the call from our zone leaders and found out that my companion, Elder Passey, is going to a place called Salaverry!
My new companion is going to be Elder Pre, and from what I've heard is that he's a Peruvian and a really cool guy, and he's also going to be our district leader.
Elder Passey had already been in our area for over 7 months (the same time I was in Chocope) so he's pretty excited to get changed.
Let's hope that it all goes well!

I'm really looking forward to the saxophone and it was supposed to have flown up yesterday, so we'll see how it went through security and everything.

Sometimes I just randomly think how great it is that I'm able to speak another language and how great it is going to be to use it back home.

That's all I got for this week, and I will reaport back more about my new companion soon!

Elder Terry

Week 41

LETTER FROM JORDAN - WEEK 41 (3/16/15)

Well that was a great week for us here in the best area in the mission.

This week, we had a Zone Conference on Wednesday, which means that each of the leaders in our zone had to do a training based off what our president had told us to do. So because my companion is district leader, we both were assigned to teach for a half hour about how the Book of Mormon applies to us. Just thinking about having 30 minutes to teach a bunch of missionaries that know more than me scared me a little bit, but by doing it, I was able to learn a lot.

One of the things that I learned was that the Book of Mormon was written specifically for us in the last days. In the times of the Book of Mormon, the only people that had access to the records were the prophets and they used it to preach vocally. But Mormon was commanded to compile everything that would be of use to us, so everything written in the Book of Mormon is made specifically for us.

Going with this point, I did the math and found out that exactly half of the Book of Mormon contains the years 100 BC until the end of Christ's visit in the Americas which is exactly where we are in existence, preparing for Christ's Coming.

Other than the class, we had an activity on Thursday for some members and investigators. To help with the lesson that night, we had everyone blind folded and we guided them around with a rope. We led them outside and one by one, started taking them away from the rope and leaving them alone.

After leaving them for a few minutes, the missionaries began singing "Come, Follow Me" and we guided everyone back to the rope and led them back in. We applied it as we are in the world and not able to see to well, but listening to the invitations of the Lord guide you to the correct path. We led them to popcorn and soda and everyone thought it was great.

Also this week we had a really cool double zone devotional in Casa Grande. The Primavera Zone and the Casa Grande Zone with a few people from the office formed a choir and had a great musical activity back in Casa Grande. I got to participate in playing piano for the choir numbers and singing in a duet for a number. But my favorite part was when a few converts were called to bear their testimonies to everyone. One of them was my first converts, Brenda, and her testimony was so strong and reminded me the purpose of my missionary work here. It was also great to be able to meet up with everyone from my old area.

Picture from mission blog with Jordan accompanying choir (far left)

Well I weighed myself, and I passed 60 kg (more than 130 lb) so yay!

It was a really great week for me, and I hope it only gets better!

Elder Terry

Week 40 - Birthday

LETTER FROM JORDAN - WEEK 40 (3/9/15)

Ugh I'm old now. I finally moved out from being a teenager and now I'm in the big boy club with 20 years of age.

Well this really was a great week and I'm really grateful to be in a ward with such great members. I don't have too much time so this email is probably just going to be a bunch of pictures.

But it all started with opening my package from home!
I finally got a new watch after carrying my last one in my pocket the whole time.

I also got this sweet book of pictures from home. Perfect to show the investigators!

Got these super sweet action figures (not dolls) of some missionaries. I almost died opening this one.

Then we went out and proselyted like normal but practically every house we went in gave us stuff like soda, fruit, and other goodies.

For dinner, our pension planned out a great party for me and it was great! She gave me this sweet painting.

She got us a great strawberry cake with jello on top

The missionaries in our ward (with one member) from left to right, Hermana Nielson, Hermana Gutierrez, me, Hermana Mason, Hermana Roach, and Antony.

My companion with our pensionista and one of her sons, Fernandito

Although I wasn't with my family and friends from home, it was one of the best birthdays that I have had. Thanks to everyone that wished me a happy birthday and for all of your support!

Also on Saturday, I snagged a few more pictures of the temple.

The temple is officially finished and is turned in to the Church! Until May when we will have the open house!

Here is a picture of me at a multi-district training meeting (far left, half-way back)

Elder Terry

Week 39

LETTER FROM JORDAN - WEEK 39 (3/2/15)

Well that was a great week in the best area in the best mission of the world!

Well this week, we had a baptism!!!
His name is Ernesto and he is 17. My companion with his last companion found him through his less-active mom and he turned out to be golden. He is super smart (he's learning English) and he learned all of the lessons really fast and easily. Hearing his testimony after his baptism was great to see how much he had progressed in his teaching.

Ernesto with his mom and his grandparents

Everyone at the baptism

Ernesto with my companion after a successful baptism

He asked for not too many people to go to his baptism if you are wondering why there are so few, but it was a very spiritual experience for everyone.

Right now we are working really hard to help strengthen our ward counsels. With a whole bunch of people in the ward, you would assume it would be going pretty well, but we are working hard to make sure we can get the most out of our counsel. We are having trainings by stake presidents and the missionary zone leaders to help us figure out how to better balance the time and we are working with our mission leader to get our job done. Being a part of the ward counsel gave me a better look of how the wards actually work and how important mission work is within the members.

In our mission, we are also planning a special event for Easter coming up. I was asked by president to participate in a barbershop quartet with some of the best singers in the mission so I'm really looking forward to that.

On a side note, we decorated our room with some pretty sweet paintings:

Oh and here's a sweet picture of one of the neighborhoods in our area

Yesterday for lunch, we were served what looked like some fried fish. I ate it because it looked pretty normal, but it tasted way better than normal fish. After we had eaten it, our cook told us that what we had eaten was something called Tollo, which is actually a type of small shark! I had heard of tollo before, but when I ate it I didn't even recognize it. I always tell the cooks to not tell me what I eat until I've eaten it, so I get to try a few new things.

Well, it's my birthday week and it's super weird to think about being 20 years old! Dang I'm old. Well I hope it all goes well.

Well the work is progressing great here, with another investigator that has a baptismal date and it is great to see the hand of the Lord in our work, especially with the temple dedication date coming up.

Well I'm out of time so tell everyone that I'm doing great and that I miss all of them (even Collin)

Elder Terry