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

Week 30 Christmas

LETTER FROM JORDAN - WEEK 30 (12/29/14)

Bueno, ¡Feliz Navidad a todos!

Well that was another great week being on the mission. Well this is going to be jam packed email, and hopefully I get everything in!

So as most of you know, last Thursday was Christmas! And this is how I got to celebrate it.

So on Christmas Eve, we had a huge turkey dinner as a zone in Casa Grande in the house of our stake president. We ate, we did a Secret Santa gift exchange and we watched Mickey's A Christmas Story.

 Then that night, we got back to the room and waited until midnight to open our presents, watching some church videos and listening to Christmas music.

Then Christmas morning, we all went over to Trujillo to have a talent show and a devotional from President Marler. Oh and this was one of my companion's presents

Then we got back and were able to call home on skype!

Although I was away from home for the first time for Christmas, It has to be one of the best ones I've had my whole life.

Also in the devotional, they kind of had a pretty big announcement. We found out that in June, they are going to split our mission in 2! It's going to be the Peru Trujillo North and the Peru Trujillo South Missions. The north mission will take Pacasmayo and Caja Marca from the Chiclayo Mission, and the south mission will take Huaraz from the Lima West Mission. So all of the missionaries in our mission will be divided to go into these missions. And all because of the temple that's going to be dedicated.

In addition to all of this craziness this week, we also had a baptism!

 I got to baptize Miguel Lino, and 8 year old who's family is not a member. He really wanted to get baptized, and his family gave him permission to be able to partake of this ordinance. This makes my second baptism here on the mission and I'm super excited to keep going!

So yesterday, we got the call to get all of the changes of where we'll be for the next 6 weeks, and it turns out, I'M STAYING IN CHOCOPE!!!!! This suprised me a little, especially because everyone that entered in the field with me, Elder Price, Elder Ashcroft, and my CCM companion Elder Weber, are all moving to different zones. Our district is staying the same at least for this change!
(our district:)

Well that's about all of the time I got for this week, and I hope everyone had a good Christmas and that you might have a goon New Year!

Elder Terry

Week 29 Christmas

LETTER FROM JORDAN - WEEK 29 (12/22/14)

Well this is it! Christmas week!

Well this past week has been great! I didn't even spend 3 days in Chocope!

This week started out with my companion heading out to Lima again to finish up getting his visa and identification approved, he just has one visit left now. He left Sunday night and I went over to Casa Grande to proselyte with the Elders in the Independencia Ward. It was a great experience to see other missionaries in action to be able to learn from them and to apply some of their ideas.

So my companion and I returned to our area on Wednesday in time for lunch, and for all of Wednesday and Thurday, we worked super hard to get the most out of our few days in the area. We even invited someone to be baptized on the 27th and he's super excited for it.

Friday and Saturday were our huge mission Christmas Program that we had in the Trujillo Plaza de Armas. Here are some of the pictures I took:

Epic pose in front of the Plaza statue

Zone picture (more or less)

Practicing for A Capella number

An A Capella quartet number that we did with me, Elder Díaz, Elder Price, and Elder Spencer

I got to play piano for a few of the numbers

The Catholic Church all decorated next to the Plaza

Tonight the Choir was from the Chimbote Peru, Chimbote Buenos Aires, Chimbote Sur, 

Casma, Sierra and Casa Grande Zones.

So the whole program turned out great. The second day we did the show, there were at least a thousand people all watching us and it was super cool. I was kind of freaked out, but it all turned out perfect and the people really liked it. We had choir numbers, small singing groups, some pretty cool piano numbers, the mission president playing guitar, and a whole bunch of people playing violins and peruvian flutes and harmonicas. I can't wait till next year!

For more pictures of the concert, click below:
http://kurtandkathymarler.blogspot.com/2014/12/the-christmas-program-in-plaza-de-armas.html
http://kurtandkathymarler.blogspot.com/2014/12/christmas-program-night-2-practice-and.html
http://kurtandkathymarler.blogspot.com/2014/12/let-show-begin.html

Okay, so this week I get to call home!!! We set up with my parents that I would call home on Christmas day, Dec 25th, at about 11:30 california time. Everyone is invited to go to my parents house at that time to be able to talk to me. If you have any questions, just contact my parents.

It may be my first Christmas's away from home, but I know it will be one of the best one's I've had. Well that will do it for this week, y ¡que cada uno de Ustedes, dondequiera que se encuentre, tenga una buena Navidad!

Elder Terry

Week 28

LETTER FROM JORDAN - WEEK 28 (12/15/14)

Well today marks exactly 5 months of being in my first area here in Chocope, and with the next change coming up on the 29th, I have a feeling that I won't be spending much more time in this area. But we will see...

Well another week just flew by, with not too much to report on, but here we go!

So on Monday we had a nice family home evening activity where we were able to make some ginger bread cookies that my companion received from his mom. We made the cookies and let everyone decorate their own cookies: one for themselves, and one for a friend. It turned out great and they loved the cookies.

 Afterwards, my companion and I made our own (mine's the Christmas tree):

Well other than that, we just had a stake conference where we were able to listen to another general authority and a counseler of the presidency of Sudamérica Noroeste, Elder Wilson Calderón. There is just something different about being with a general authority and being able to listen to his stories and especially his testimony. I love having this opportunity to be able to meet all of these general authorities, and I always find some way to make myself a better missionary when I listen to their advice.

So we are all preparing for our huge Christmas show that our mission is putting on in the Trujillo Plaza de Armas, and they gave me the opportunity to play the piano for about a third of the general choir songs and a few small group pieces.

For anyone that might be in Trujillo this Christmas, we invite you to go watch our show! It will be this Friday and Saturday (19th and 20th) in the Trujillo Plaza de Armas at 7p both nights. And if you do, make sure to say hi to me!

Well that's all I got for this week, and I will talk back the next!

Elder Terry