Paita Life

 Buenos días familia y todos!! Sad to think I'm heading into my last week as a missionary in Paita, nothing's official yet but transfers are next week and I'm probably leaving. Glad to say that this last week was productive and a memorable one to say the least. Our district kicks off our week with district councils and an Elder gave us a great lesson on the power of the spirit in our everyday lives as missionaries. 

I pray to remember these experiences beyond the mission because I know it won't be the same, the spirit with a servant of the Lord is truly special. Some lessons early in the week that stand out in my memory are with Marlon and Segundo. Marlon's family members are members and he has been learning for a while, he attends church and understands a lot of the doctrine, just not his time yet. We shared the story of the tree of life in Nephi 8 and the symbolism we can apply to our lives. His family desires him to partake of the fruit just like Lehi desires his wife and children to come to the tree. 

With a new investigator, Segundo, it was hard to stay on track with a principle but that made us flow with the spirit and teach him what he needed to hear. We love to share and explain parables from the bible as many are very acquainted with the book, and it is a great way to understand their ability to read scriptures. Again we had the chance to share the amazing Ask of God video and this time it was with the Marchena family. It brings the spirit strongly and explains the power of prayer, and hearing the father of the family's testimony about the restoration was amazing. The kids look up to him and are learning great gospel principles early on. 

Interviews with President Salinas were an awesome boost in the middle of the week as he identified and proposed a plan to my current difficulties. I noticed how after I said some things he paused and took time to listen and give the answer that God wanted me to hear. Friday we deep cleaned the church in preparation for ward conference which had a great turnout thanks to some administering we did together as a zone. We split and conquered the whole area in one night finding and inviting all to the conference. President Martinez of the stake spoke about acts of faith and the wonderful examples we have in the Puerto Paita ward. A great week in all, memories made work done. Chao!

Semana Awsama

What can I say, another awesome week in this wonderful country! We have been teaching, sharing, and inviting like crazy these past weeks and we don't plan on letting up at all. There's news to be told and I love being a part of it. This past week consisted of progressive lessons with some investigators, some morale boosting for inactive members, a few more blessings for the sick, awesome FHE nights, and Facebook live videos; that's some missionary work summed up. 

Multizone Conference was held with our new mission president where we learned some applicable lessons to become better servants of the Lord. He shared 3 Nephi 27:21-22 and the idea that we all must KNOW in order to DO so that we can BE what God would have us to be. I can't DO anything if I don't KNOW how and I can't BECOME anyone if I don't DO the actions necessary. 

This same day we had a spiritual family home evening activity with the Fiestas family and about 10 of their non-member family attended. We shared some scriptures relating to the will of God and watched a short video to cap it off. Everyone participated and felt touched by the Spirit, what more could I ask for. 

As a zone we have been organizing and preparing for a live musical activity we will broadcast in a couple weeks and things are looking good for the most part. We are working hard to stay on top of Facebook and contacting those that react to the page. This past weekend we broadcasted a quick English class to test out some tech stuff and of course teach some English. The marker we used for the whiteboard may have been a permanent one but you got to do what you got to do. I think it went well for the most part as we taught the importance of prayer and how to pray in English. Because it doesn't matter what language you pray in right, God listens to the intents of your soul and loves you for your effort. 

A young man walked into the chapel yesterday for the church service and he needed help. He's here in Paita alone with his family still back in Venezuela. He's a member and wants to get back on track. He walked in on his own, began his journey on his own, and now we are here to help him along. The missionaries can't do everything for someone, that's not conversion, we're just the two bumpers put up at the bowling alley keeping the ball on track. 

All is well here on the coast of Peru, time's flying and I'm not trying to think about it too much. 

Cuidense mucho, Dios les bendiga!

New Mission President Wisdom

 Una semana muy rápido acá en Paita, no puedo creerlo! Things are pumping forward in the area and with the members. The relationships are strengthening and we are beginning to see the blessings. We have found a few more people to teach this week and some are within a family which makes things easier as families are central to the plan and they can help one another construct their testimonies. Some things that stick out to me from this past week are the opportunities we had to give blessings to those in need. The power of the priesthood is amazing and we should always be exercising it, no matter what might be going on in the world. 

We love teaching Christ's parables to families and give them homework for our next family home evening activity. One family in particular was a little inactive and we firmly invited them to church now that we are holding meetings in the chapel. They were able to show up and one of the daughters even brought her boyfriend, who we then obtained information from and will begin teaching soon. Tuesday was the day of the fisher and here in Paita that meant a lot. Insane parties all day and some crazy parades, definitely checking it out again in the future. We had MLC this past week as well and were able to meet the new mission president; he's a super cool guy from Lima who is all about love and family. My comp and I presented a PowerPoint that we were assigned by the assistants and in the middle of discussing problems and issues in the zones, the president decided to throw in a few words. He said that there will always be problems no matter what and we need to look ahead, focusing on what we can do now. He kept saying he's a magnet for bad luck but something that his mother taught him young was that there are no bad situations but only opportunities. This positive attitude is awesome and helpful for me so I am looking forward to hearing more from him and the ideas he has to get the work going. 

Towards the end of the weekend we had another great FHE night with the Fiestas family where we shared some lines from Ether. A lot of this book includes boats and things like that and being here in Paita, a fishing powerhouse, I thought it would apply well. We shared the importance of anchoring ourselves in Christ during the storms of the sea that we will face and trusting that God will provide a way(Ether 12:4, 2:25). 

Thanks for all you do, keep doing it. CHAO

Live church and saying goodbye to the mission president and his wife.

 Last days of June are flying by and the work is pushing forward here in Paita. This past week we have planned a lot of things into the work for the rest of this transfer. We are looking to hold a few mission nights with a couple wards with hopes to strengthen the relationship between wards in the stake. We also are excited to see some area invasions for the missionaries here to better learn of the area and more effectively help their members. My companion and I did lots of walking this past week which was awesome, it felt nice to be out and wave to the people in real life rather than a lagging phone screen. The fact that we don't have the sufficient money to travel has given us this opportunity so I am thankful. 

We were able to meet with some recent converts as well such as Maria and her two kiddos. Their living conditions are some of the worst I've seen and it doesn't change the relationship they have together one bit. Happiness within a family is obtained through prayer, scripture study, and living gospel principles, whether you're on dirt or carpet it doesn't matter. A couple blocks down from Maria is Anthony and his family, this past week we talked about having the spirit within the home. They shared some life trials they're been through and how having a positive attitude about it all and helped them grow closer as a family. We discussed what we can do to invite the spirit within the home and how we can better recognize the blessings from God. We had the opportunity to share some quick lessons with some member families as well and we focused on helping them improve their scripture study. We read some parables from the bible with them and it was cool to see how involved they got. We will check in on their commitments to see how they've applied the things they have learned, always ponder on and try to apply what you read. 

A few people we spoke to over the phone have been bed ridden in the hospital and though there would be no way to visit them, this is where the power of technology plays in as we have been able to simply pray with them and give them the comfort that Christ offers. We have finally been able to get in contact with the Zervallos family and begin teaching the two children Ben and Audri. Have you ever learned more as the teacher let alone why teaching two kids, well yeah these guys are geniuses and prepped for the font. We just have to review the lessons and get them to Paita as they are currently still away from town. They know their Savior and desire to make promises with Him. Additionally, this past week I said goodbyes to my first of four mission presidents. President and Hermana Vega have taught me what it means to be a determined disciple of Christ and I'm thankful for their efforts in the field. Last night my comp and I received news that we'll be giving a presentation at MLC this week and with the new prez I'm hoping things go well. Yesterday was also the first time in a very long time that church was held in-person at the chapel. 

A small list of members were admitted and all the old ladies were crying. It was an effective blessing for the members here to be able to see each other and worship as one. Missionary weeks are flying and I'm happy to be here, do what you can and He'll take care of the rest. Chao fam