Week #57- I love being a missionary!

We did a lot better this week and we are having good success. We have a few investigators that are really progressing and  we are close to giving them a baptismal date. One of the members here gave an less active member some advice and I really loved it, he gave the example of a baby learning to walk, and how it falls, falls, falls, and falls some more until finally it can walk without falling. I have been thinking a lot about why I cant just do better, but now I understand better. I have fallen many times, but I feel like I am getting closer and closer to just being able to stop, and be able to walk without falling.Me and my companion are getting along really good and we had a really cool experience yesterday. We had an appointment with some sisters that have been having a lot of problems in their home, We prepared a lesson and we helped them feel a lot better, but after they had a ton of questions, and we had all the answers, but not in our own words. All the answers we gave were in the scriptures and we taught with unity and it was just awesome. I love being a missionary because we always receive revelation for the people we teach. The Chilean missionary in my room had emergency transfers so now I am living with Elder Barnson. There was a big flood in one of our zones so they moved all of the missionaries out of that zone. Now they are all in Chaclacayo. Its really wierd, a few people have died so its pretty bad. But all of the missionaries are fine.

Love Elder Monson

Week #56- if we are doing our best then that is good enough!

This week was hard, we had about 15 of our appointments cancelled, so we struggled to find people to teach, but I also found out that maybe it was for a reason that some of those appointments were canceled. During a little bit of the time we were looking for someone to teach we went contacting and we found a few people that are awesome. We found a family on saturday and then she accepted a visit for the next day. She had questions about where we will go after we die, so we taught her the plan of salvation and she told us that she felt more peace when we taught here and she loves that we have eternal families. She said that she had always wondered and had doubts about where we will go after we die, and she thanked us for giving her the answer. I was feeling down on myself because we had the least amount of lessons that I have had since Ive been here and I blamed myself for it, because I am leading the area, but Elder Campos helped me to realize that if we are doing our best then that is good enough. I feel like we could have done a few things better and I hope to improve in these areas this week. But we have been working hard and had some great progress with a few people. We should be really close to a few baptisms these coming weeks.
Love, Elder Monson

Week #55- new companion!

This week was good, I have been getting to know my new companion and he is awesome, and has helped me so much this week. My companion is Elder Vinces from Ecuador. We have been talking to a lot more people, but pretty much no one accepted us, and there were even a few that got mad at us for talking to them, but last night we had an amazing contact that is really amazing. We knocked on her door and she came out and we started talking to her and then she started crying and telling us about all of the problems she is having in her life. She told us that she wants to attend a church and that she was praying for someone to visit her and help her. We had 54 contacts this week and the very last contact we had was the only one that really wants us to visit her. We have been having a really hard time with getting permission for one of our investigators, her dad is a less active member and says he doesn’t have time to listen to us, but he wants his daughter to listen to us for 2 years before she can get baptized, and we feel like there are a lot of things that can happen in 2 years so we have been working really hard to convince her Dad to let us talk to him, but we have had very little success.
That's all for this week. Love, Elder Monson

Week #54- This transfer has been awesome!

This week was good. Even though we were all pretty sick, and couldn’t work at 100 percent we are doing really good. We should have a few baptisms coming up if we can get permission from their parents to baptize them, but they are all so amazing, I love it here. I haven’t really attached myself to the people here like in my other areas yet but I feel like I have had the most success here and that I am working better and harder than ever before. My companion has helped me out a lot during this transfer and i feel like I have learned a ton from him. We have transfers tomorrow so it’s possible that my companion leaves. We will find out to day at about 3 o clock. We are nervous because my companion doesn't want to leave. The members have given us so much food this week, because it’s very likely that at least one of the 4 missionaries here [will be transferred]. Last night they made us hamburgers and they were the best hamburgers I have had in a year, since I left on my mission. This transfer has been awesome and I love the missionaries here they have helped me a lot and helped me to not be so stressed out. No packages yet. Yesterday was awesome.
Love, Elder Monson

Week #53- President Boswell helped me a lot!

This week was good, we all had interviews with our mission president and my interview with President Boswell helped me a lot and I wrote a few reminders on some sticky notes to always remind me to push myself, and I feel like it has worked pretty good. We did divisions this week the day after interviews and I really wanted to prove myself that without my companion that I could guide my area and have good numbers. We were able to have a pretty good day and we had 6 lessons, a new investigator and we put 2 more baptismal dates. I know numbers aren't everything but I really felt good about that day. I hope to keep working hard and if my companion leaves to keep the same pace that we are at or even improve. The only thing that I feel we are having problems with are contacts and getting permission for baptisms. We have 3 investigators with a baptismal date that just don't have permission so we are really working hard to talk with their parents and help them understand the importance of baptism. This week for my one year mark I burnt a shirt in our room and we spent half an hour trying to get all of the smoke out, it was terrible. ya it wasnt a great idea but it was fun. A family here bought us pollo a la brasa and I feel like it made me sick. i went a year without getting sick but I guess it finally got to me. haha We are having a lot of success here and we should be having a few baptisms in the next few weeks.
Love, Elder Monson

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Week #52- really seeing Gods help in this work!

This week was good, we were able to have a great baptism. He was really prepared  and he knew what he was doing. When he had his interview, Elder Campos said that the interview was one of the best he has had. The ward helped a ton by including him in everything. A lot of members thought he was already a member because everyone is his friend and he is always at the ward activities. I feel like this week was one of our best weeks this transfer, even though we didnt have a ton of lessons, because we had to do a few interviews and we had some baptisms to go to, we had a baptism and found 7 new investigators and 3 of them have a baptism date already. We are really seeing Gods help in this work. When I got here we didnt have very many investigators, but now we have quite a few and they are all amazing. I might go to the temple this week, we are trying to get some less active or recent converts to go to the temple and do baptisms for the dead.
Love, Elder Monson

"The water was so nasty when we got to the church to fill up the font. Someone put black paint in it."

He's been gone for 362 days! We sure love our Elder!

Week #51- The members here are starting to help us more and more!

I had to go to migrations to renew my card so that I can stay here today so I am on really late. This week was great. Me and my companion are getting along a lot better and we are seeing a difference in our work as well. We improved a lot this week and we plan to keep improving. We found some great new investigators and they are really awesome they are really progressing and a few accepted a baptismal date. We found a lot of them through references and through some less active members. The members here are starting to help us more and more. We have a few people with a baptismal date and one for this week so we will see how everything goes. its so hard to live on the budget they give us here. I get less than a dollar a day for breakfast,
Love, Elder Monson