Returning Home - 19-20 October 2021

 Elder Blazzard concludes his mission today and is traveling to Lima and then to the states. We will pick him up tomorrow morning in Salt Lake City. 

Wrap it up ... up.

 Rápida semana! Lots happening and a lot of work to do. There's nothing better to do than serve and teach others the doctrine of Christ. Franco has been super busy with work but has been praying and doing his review studies over what he learned from conference. We can try our best to prepare him for baptism this coming Saturday but it's his conversion and we're happy he's on the right track. 

Ezequiel Salvador was baptized on Friday and I had the opportunity to speak to him and his family about this great decision to follow the Savior and be an example to all his friends. I promised him that all of life's difficulties won't just go away but that he'll have a clearer understanding and guide as to how to roll with the punches. 

The best meeting out of the thousands had to be with both President Salinas of the mission and President Leon of the Castilla Stake. We shared some statistics from the missionaries in the zone and what we need from the Stake members to progress the work. We have been working with the young men to give them some missionary experience. One kid, Jean Pierre, definitely needed some guidance and I'm glad to be a part of his preparation to continue the most important work on Earth. 

Yesterday a sister called us to teach her 4 children with strong desires to be baptized. You really never know what can happen in the field and you better be ready to see huge miracles thrown right in your face. It makes me happy and what more would you need. We all have a responsibility to share experiences and the blessings of the gospel to others. All the studying and praying and attending church isn't for you, it is for someone else. Maybe you know who it's all for or maybe you don't, the side-effects are a happy soul and the bright light of Christ in your life and the lives of your loved ones. 

Don't be dismayed, remember the promise you made and come through with it. Chao y'all

GC - Bueno

We invited every living thing in Peru this past week to watch General Conference and I'm glad we did because the messages were amazing! Just one of the many things I loved was Elder Vaiangina Sikahema's talk about God's house of order and his invitation to seek the sequence God has in store for me. I will continue to reflect upon the ideas the Holy Spirit allowed into my mind until the next conference in just another 6 months. 

We held zone conference this past week where we discussed trust in the spirit and focusing solely upon the work. We have some work to do as a zone and things are looking great. 

We had super spiritual lessons with Hermano Yeiber talking about the Restoration living prophets and apostles in our day. I still find myself astonished as we share this news with people and that's a true testament to me of the divine power of the gospel. A young man named Salvador is preparing for his baptism this coming weekend and he's a stud as we've gone through the discussions with him as well. He'll be a great example for his family and a huge light to his friends I'm sure. 

I can't seem to get my mind off Conference and I think that's a good thing. Some more truths I learned and will strive to apply to my life are searching and studying gospel principles in order to heighten my capability to receive revelation and practicing patience as well as kindness in order to foster unity in this chaotic world. Don't just keep what you learned to yourself, share it with others because I'm sure they need to hear it. Chao

Moroni

 Muy buenos días a todos! ¿Cómo están, cómo se encuentran? The week was great in missionary world, lots of experiences had and more memories made. We went on quite the hunt for new people to teach and found a total of 13 promising individuals. Our buddy Joaquin has been out with us almost daily to help and gain missionary experience. Its been amazing to see just in these few weeks his confidence grow and how the spirit guides him personally.

In a few family home evening lessons we shared Alma 48 reading about the characteristics of Moroni. What attribute can you work on, what can we do to be more like Moroni, and well, more like Jesus Christ. Later in the chapter we learn what it'd be like if we are were like Moroni. I hope to be like him and help others get there too. 

Our friend Dennis is working on some paperwork before his baptism, pray that it goes quickly so he can be sealed with his wife and children now. Please pray for Hermano Otero as well as he has gone through some difficulties within the church and stives to be a good father for his daughters who want to be baptized. Lastly, Franco came to church yesterday and he wasn't the only one crying from feeling of the spirit in that chapel. Even through all the noise from outside and literally dogs walking down the aisles, he was thankful to be there after so much time. He met a lot of members and talked with the bishop for awhile about his situation. After a lesson about the Plan of Salvation we set a baptismal date for the 9th. He's driven by familia and wants to do what's right. 

I'm excited to see what lies ahead and am thankful for every day here in Peru. I am especially excited for this coming weekend to be spiritually uplifted by the living prophets and apostles. Prepare questions and bring whatever concerns you have, as long as faith presides than answers will come forth. Be safe and get it done, chao.

La Obra de Castilla

Hey it's early and we're in a minibus heading out to some cool location, I'll include pics once we make it. *Update* We are the bus headed back, burnt and tired after an awesome hike to what I'd imagine the Waters of Mormon looking like. 

Can't remember a whole lot from the past week but it was amazing nonetheless. We have been teaching a ton of great people here in Castilla and we have a few people with desires to be baptized. Brother Franco reached out to us after having fallen away from missionary contact for awhile, he is going through some family issues and wants to do what's right to bring them back together. We talked about following Christ's example and being that light for his children who need him. He wants to be baptized in order to have the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Another inactive member Lorena has been attending again and her nonmember husband wants to know more, with plans to be baptized as well. We had a great FHE lesson with the Nizama family about missionary work, discussing what we must do to prepare ourselves personally in order to invite with power. If you have the desire, you are called to the work. 

This past week involved multizone conference, leadership meetings, interviews with President, and a few office visits. Lots of traveling and money but experiences made and fun had. We've been taking out our buddy Joaquin for some visits so he could get a little mission experience in before his mission in January. We've just been having him share his testimony more than anything because that's the most critical part and when the spirit truly conveys the message to the person. He's a great kid just nervous like everyone is, he'll be a great missionary. Service highlight has to be sanding down some the walls of an investigator's house after a pyro accident. The grit of the sand paper wasn't tough enough and we scrubbed as hard as we could to get the black off. My back was calling it after balancing on a plastic stool and wiping the ceiling for a couple hours. 

Anyways, church was great yesterday and the ward is popping as usual thanks to all the activities like the stake youth musical and others planned for coming weeks. Listen to the impressions of the spirit and go with it. There's a lot more we could all learn. Chao¡

Heyo, since I last wrote on Wednesday things have been grinding here in Castilla. The baptism for Franzue went great on Thursday and we saw the family really come together. Unfortunately we weren't able to be there because of a leadership meeting with the mission president but we passed by later that evening for the birthday party. MLC was held in president's nice house because he's just awesome like that, and we had the best plate of lomo saltado and ceviche to top it off. I learned to think big and work big to see big miracles.

We have a great relationship with the members already and especially the YSA as pretty much all of them have callings. This place is reminding me of a lot of Knoxville where I finished my time in the states. That is, there's a lot of members and we're getting fed to the rafters, lots of hospitality and missionary interaction. We're walking lots to burn off the extra calories and really to see and talk with those in the streets. We had a great lesson with Aldo about prayer unity as a family. I gave my testimony about the unity of the church, how we're all connected and on the same page throughout the whole earth. Another with Elva who we taught about prophets and apostles leading up to Christ's earthly ministry. She was deeply interested about priesthood authority and wants to learn more. 

We haven't been doing just walking but also running as we are the ones with the keys to the church and the ward always has some activity. Now I've got a song to play on the piano for the youth next week. I was assigned a talk for yesterday to introduce myself to the ward and I shared some thoughts about the atonement and resurrection of Jesus Christ. A member very close to me who I know from my first area of the mission has family in the ward and his father passed way last week, the same day of the baptism actually. Franzue and all of them are related and I wanted to speak to them during my talk to let them know what I know to be true. Christ overcame death so that when it inevitably comes our way we know where we stand and are filled with an understanding of His love for us. We confirmed little Franzue a member of the church yesterday and confirmed our own testimonies of the atoning sacrifice of the Redeemer. "He is not here, for He is risen..."

New and Final Area Assignment

 Hey!! Writing on a Wednesday because transfers were this week and everyone was traveling all day Monday. I didn't think things would change heading into my last transfer but here I am in Castilla on the east side of Piura. I've already seen reasons as to why I'm here and I'm extremely blessed to finish my calling as a  servant of the Lord here. 

I started my mission on the other side of the city with my "Peruvian dad" John Camacho and here in Castilla lives his mother and extended family, one who will be baptized tomorrow. The ward members are amazing and I know that we will form amazing relationships. I love it so far, especially the fact that the ward is called "Los Pinos", referring to pine trees which I love. And living right next to the airport hearing planes fly over every 10 minutes isn't distracting at all. No really, I'm happy to be here and ready to work hard. 

I can't leave out my last week in Paita though, started the week off with a hospital visit for one of the elders in the zone. He broke his ankle going down some stairs, they called us quickly and I quickly found myself wrapping gauze around his ankle which was bleeding ferociously. I don´t understand how that happens but he's healing up now in a cast and on crutches. We hosted a great Zoom activity for our investigators between our Peru ward and a ward from Texas, talking about eternal families. Did lots of service throughout the week which is always a blast and a great way to spread word. We helped the local recreation club unload 180 sacks of donated food from the church into their facility, I was real happy when the boss told us we'd be free to use the basketball court and such. 

I was called to remember a quote I learned in the MTC, ´´I shall not want´´ as we received transfer news and I'm out of Paita just like that. But like I explained, I'm sure Castilla will be awesome and I can't wait to see what situations God puts me in these next few weeks. 

Thanks for being lights to those around you, take care! Chao fam