Week #31- 2 baptisms!

This week was really hard. I got a new companion, my new companion is Elder Gonzales from Peru. It is really hard getting used to him as my companion, because he doesnt do anything, He just isnt really motivated to do anything so I have had to do everything. The first thing my zone leaders told me is that he isnt allowed to have the cell phone. Last week for p day we went to a hill in the middle of Lima where you can see all of Lima. It was really cool to see how many people live here and the line that seperates the rich people and the poor people. On saturday we had 2 baptisms for 2 people that have been listening to the missionaries for a really long time. It was amazing to see how strong their testimonies are. One of them is the only member in her family and her family really didnt want her to be baptized. Her grandma told her that she was born catholic, baptized catholic, and that she was going to die catholic. It was amazing that she still chose to be baptized even though her family is against it. It shows that she really has a testimony. This week we had about 5 people come up to talk to us just because I am white and they wanted to know what I was doing here. It was pretty funny but we had some good contacts talking with them. It is crazy that I have already been here for 7 months now, I love it here and I am learning a ton. Thats all for this week,  In our mission they put all of the sister missionaries in the rich areas, they dont put the sisters anywhere close to the dangerous missionaries. My new companion has 16 months in the mission.
Love, Elder Monson

All of Lima!

Double Baptism!! 

Week #30- where her mark was!

This week was great we had a few really cool experiences. We had an investigator who called us and asked if we could visit her that day because she had gotten a good answer to her prayers. We immediately went to her house and she told us that she had had a dream the night before that she was in a line to be judged and the people that had gotten baptized had marks on them. When it was her turn to be judged the guy asked her where her mark was. She said she looked all over the place and couldnt find one. She understood that she needed to be baptized and told us that she would be baptized that friday. We had a really fun time getting everything ready for her baptism. We had to fill up the font with buckets of water because the pump is broken. It took forever and was tiring. My companion baptized her and the baptism was really awesome. I also did divisions with our district leader this week and we visited 2 other investigators in my area that have been listening to the missionaries for many months. We had a really great lesson with them and later the next day they called us and told us that the scripture that we shared with them really helped them and that they want to be baptized. We gave them a baptism date to be baptized this Saturday so we are really excited. We are going to have transfers wednesday and my companion is most likely going to leave so he is a little sad but we are going to ask permission for him to be able to come back for their baptism. We have had an amazing week and I hope we have a lot more like it! We eat with members on sundays for lunch, and the service we did was for the mom of a member. We have transfers on wednesdays now.

Week #29- just going to do what we can!

This week was pretty good. President made a few new rules so we are trying to get used to them. Now our investigators have to attend church 3 times for all 3 hours before they can get baptized and they have to pay tithing and fast offerings. We also can only listen to music that we can get off of the church website and nothing else. We have done a little bit off service this past week carrying big metal frames for a house and then moving a lot of dirt and rocks. I havent done very much exercise for a while so my body was pretty sore. My companion is probably going to have transfers next week so I am trying to remember where everyone lives and all of the bus stops so that I can find my way around. It has been really hard because there isnt street names because everything is just dirt. We have to sweep our room everyday because all the dust gets in. We are going to have stake conference next week and someone from the quorum of the 70 is going to come. Then the next week they have voting so they cancel church to do that because it is a law here that everyone has to vote or pay money to not vote, so I wont be able to take the sacrament for a few weeks. Our investigators have been doing great and we have invited a few to a baptism date, but they have said they are scared or that they want to know more before they accept it. We also have a lot of investigators that arent married but live with their partner and have a few kids so they cant be baptized even if they want to. This is the hardest part here is finding someone that is actually married. But we are just going to do what we can to help them get married and later be baptized. We also found a family that has been less active for a while but they are really cool and have been members for a little bit over a year. We have a goal to help them be sealed in the Temple, and we feel like it will really happen. We always go to the internet cafes to write. we havent had any baptisms yet and we stopped taking the girl to seminary because she doesnt have time anymore We will always have someone cook for us and she does our laundry too. Thank you all for your support!
Love, Elder Monson

"My room- in the city of Horacio!"

Week #28- really close to being a ward!

This week was pretty good, we were able to find a few less active members so we have been trying to help them come back to church. This branch is really close to being a ward and just needs a few more priesthood holders to be able to be a ward. The missionaries that have been here have just been baptizing people to have baptisms and the converts werent really converted so they dont come to church anymore so we have been working with them a lot trying to help them be converted after their baptisms which is harder than it sounds. We have had a hard time teaching our investigators because they are all girls so we cant teach them without having another guy in the lesson. It is really hard to find people to come with us to lessons because all of the men work. We have been trying to teach english in the church on Fridays but only about 8 people come, and everytime we teach english I realize how much English I have forgotten. It is pretty funny when 2 americans have to ask each other how to speak english when they are the teachers. We have a big area, and we just have the 4 elders in our zone there are only 2 sister missionaries because this zone isnt the safest zone in the mission (and don't worry we haven't had any problems so far and I am twice as big as everyone). The weather has been about the same it is hot during the day and really cold at night. This week we did a little bit of service and we tore down a wall in someones house to make more room. It was pretty cool the bricks are just held together by dried mud so it wasnt to hard to break down, but it made a huge mess. Luckily the family has 3 daughters that helped us clean up the mess. I have been reading the Book of Mormon for my personal study for a while now and I am in Alma 41 now, I have learned so much from reading and I love my study journal. It is really going to help me when I have to give a lesson when I get home haha.

Love Elder Monson

Week #27- feels like I've been gone for 6 days, not 6 months!

This week was pretty normal. I reached 6 months this week so I got to burn a tie. We have been taking a girl to seminary at about 5:30 in the morning for the past 2 weeks so I am really tired. We also teach classes of English in this area and it is really funny to hear them try to speak english, but some of them are really good and know a lot. The people here are really humble and want to listen to us so we are really happy for that. The hardest part here is that no one gets married but they have been living with their partner for longer than 20 years or so. It sucks because they can´t get baptized if they don´t live the law of chastity. This area is awesome but the people are different, they drink and smoke a lot so we see some pretty funny things. One morning we saw a guy drinking and walking with his friend and then he started to wobble and he fell. It was so funny and he just looked around to see if anyone saw him fall. We have a few people with a baptism date for next week but they aren´t really sure. They are more like a goal for them, so we will see how it goes. We also had interviews with our Mission President and they went really good. Our new president is really spiritual and does everything with love. I love our new president and I think he will make this mission even better. Other than that our week was pretty normal. We don´t have a church, it is just a building. I haven´t gotten the package yet and my companion hasn´t gotten one in a while. It feels like 6 days, not 6 months. it has gone so fast! I doesn´t rain very much here so I don´t think it will be mud...

Love Elder Monson

Week #26- 6 months!

haha Well I broke a window playing soccer last week. The window of the stake presidents office haha but he wasn't there and we didn't tell anyone about it haha until the zone leaders went to that church with our mission president and the stake president. and were going to make another jersey for our district soon My companion is Elder Aspajo and he is really cool. He has helped me a lot these past few weeks. We walk really fast and a lot here. Our area is a lot bigger than my last area haha I think we are going to play basketball today because it is p day in our districts and we just have the 4 missionaries in our branch for our district. well i guess the thing you might want to hear most not really is that there is probably going to be a war between chile and peru and if that happens all the missionaries have to leave peru. I think it is pretty serious, but I don't know a lot about it. I barely felt the earthquake it was really weak and a lot weaker than the first one I felt. I have been waking up at 5:30 this week to help a girl go to seminary in the mornings so I have been really tired this week. I am going to burn a tie tomorrow for my 6 month mark!

Elder Aspajo & Elder Taylor Monson!

Week #25- transfer to Chaclacayo!

I had transfers for the first time and I had a HUGE change in areas. I went from the rich area to a really poor area. I am in Chaclacayo now in the branch Pariachi. There isn't any grass in my new area so there isn't any use cleaning my shoes. There is just dirt, dirt, and more dirt,  and hardly half of the "houses" have a roof. They don't live very good, but the people are so much more accepting. I love the people here. I really got to see how money can change people. My new companion is Elder Aspajo from Peru. He is about 5 feet tall. He doesn't even reach my shoulder, it is really funny. I have a few really good friends in this zone so I know it is going to be really fun. We live with 2 other Elders and one of them is the District Leader. He is from Utah so I get to talk some english. So I am really happy about that. The weather in this area is warmer, but freezing at night. The kids here are really funny, they haven't seen to many white people so they are always touching my hair, and rubbing my arm, it is really weird, but they are funny. I really miss my old area and all of the people I got to know, but this area is awesome, and I think Elder Aspajo will be my favorite companion so far. We have amazing investigators that really want to learn more about the gospel and are really accepting to what we teach. I am hoping that we will have success this transfer, and we are going to do everything we can to help these people. We still have a pensionista. I am good with things for the weather it is looking like I will be here for a while so it is going to get hot. We eat the same stuff pretty much. I still haven't gotten sick, and our apartment is pretty nice and a lot bigger than my old one.
Love, Elder Monson

"We locked him in a little area and he couldn't get out- it was funny!"