Week #44- Christmas in Peru!

Skype with Taylor was AWESOME. We got to talk with our missionary for a hour and a half! He is doing SO good. He is happy & healthy and we couldn't be prouder.


This week was fun, we were able to visit a ton of families this week, because no one else would let us in their house. Everyone was busy for Christmas, but it was fun. Not quite as fun as at home, but the families here are really cool. On Friday we had a talent show in our branch. We were going to sing in spanish and english but they started late like always so we didnt have time to sing. It was cool a few people danced and others singed, and others did other stuff. On Christmas Eve a family invited us for lunch and we ate turkey. It was really good. We should be having atleast one baptism this week if not 2 so we are really excited. I have been waiting for this baptism forever and we have really been working hard for this baptism. She is the sister of a recent convert and she is part of my favorite family here. It is really hot here and I am jealous of the cold in Utah. On saturday we helped clean the church building and we had to move the Piano down 3 stories. It was so heavy and I was on the bottom so I had a lot of the weight on me. We scratched a few walls and broke a window trying to get it down, but we finally got it down there. My body has been sore ever since haha. I really need to work out more, but my pensionista built my confidence when she told me that I wasnt fat and that I have a bonito cuerpo or a beautiful body haha. I have always wanted to here that from girl but I just wasnt expecting it from someone that is almost 70 haha. This week was really fun and we have a few families inviting us to their house for New Years so we are excited for that as well.
Love, Elder Monson

Christmas at the Temple!

Elder Monson got a gift!

Week #43- Some Pictures!

This week Elder Monson only coordinated Skype on email, so we didn't get much of an update... BUT... we did get PICTURES!!! Pictured make us so happy (: here are just a few! (viewer discretion advised (; )

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Had to move this piano!

Can't eat pig in Peru.. but can take pictures? EWW.



Week #42- she gave an amazing testimony!

This week was good. We had a baptism that was really long waited. She has been investigating the church for almost a year now.   She gave us a scare when she called us after we had just sung at the relief society thing and she told us that she didn’t want to be baptized anymore because her family was against it and she has had a ton of problems lately. We went right to her house to talk to her and we calmed her down a bit but she still said no, so we invited her to pray and come to church with us the next day to see how she felt. After all of the meetings she told us that she wanted to be baptized. We were really excited and happy for her but it got even harder the church we were going to baptize her didn’t have any water and the missionaries in that area told us this about an hour before the baptism was supposed to start. So we had to call everyone and tell them that we were going to do it in another church. We were extremely lucky when we got to the church and all the doors that we needed were open, even though nobody was in the church. We were able to have the baptism and she gave an amazing testimony after that as soon as she was in the water she just felt a happiness in her heart. I am so glad that I was able to be a part of her baptism and I will always remember it.
That's all for this week, Elder Monson

A family in Peru!

Her baptism!

Baptism!

Week #41-a ton of miracles this week!

This week was awesome! One of our investigators who has been investigator for about a year finally decided that she wants to be baptized. And another investigator that has been investigating for over 3 years told us yesterday that she wants to be baptized too! I have seen a ton of miracles this week and I am really excited. This will probably be my last week in this area so I really want to try even harder to find more people to teach so my companion isn't left with no one to teach. We had a really great week and I hope this week will be even better. I bought a new camera so I have some pretty good pictures. We had another mission night in the church that was way cool. We made a really awesome game for everyone to play. It was like a race with a ton of games that they had to pass to move one. It was way fun. Today is my district leaders birthday so we are going to eat good the next few days haha. One of my investigators invited all of us to lunch tomorrow and a ton of members want us to celebrate his birthday in their house.
That's all for this week, Elder Monson

Week #40- Peruvian side of thanksgiving!

This week was great! We were able to go to the temple and we had a baptism this week. Our convert is amazing. He has read the bible 7 times, the whole Book of Mormon and the book of the teachings of Joseph Fielding Smith. A lot of times when we visit him he teaches us more than we teach him. He will probably be our next branch mission leader so we are really excited. We were also able to go to the Temple and it was absolutely amazing. We went with 2 new converts and they were baptized for about 4 people each. We took a ton of pictures and they said that they loved it. I love going to the Temple and just feeling the spirit that is there. For Thanksgiving all of the missionaries in our zone went to a members house where we ate turkey, and mashed potatoes, but they also added the Peruvian side of thanksgiving and we ate chicken and rice haha. It was awesome and the turkey was so good.
Love, Elder Monson

Yay for baptisms! 

New converts to the Temple!

Thanksgiving in Peru!

Week #39- she made us eat turtle meat!

This week was good, and we are having some success. We should have 2 baptisms this week and we are really excited. We are going to go to the Temple Wednesday with a few converts so that they can do baptisms for their ancestors. I cant wait to go to the Temple again. Our zone leaders called us and told us that we are going to celebrate Thanksgiving, but we dont know what we are going to do, but it sounds like it is going to be fun. The weather here is getting hotter and hotter, it felt like a desert yesterday it was so hot.  Me and my companion are getting a long well, and he is trying to memorize our area so that he can figure his way around when I leave. I had to go to the center of Lima today because my companion had to go to migrations and do some paperwork. So I am on a little bit late. It was really boring and is taking up a ton of our p day. We had another mission night and we played a game kind of like jeapordy with the scriptures and random things. It was pretty fun but hardly anyone showed up. There was only 2 members there so we were kind of mad about that. This branch doesnt really help the missionaries very much but well work through it Other than that this week was pretty normal. our pensionista told us that she made us eat turtle meat without even telling us haha
Love, Elder Monson

Week #38- teaching together with the spirit!

This week was good, we gave a few more investigators a baptismal date and we are really excited to have baptisms in this area after going about a month without one. We are having more lessons these past 2 weeks than I ever had with my last companion and I love it. I feel like we are a lot closer companionship and that we are teaching together and with the spirit. I love how my companion teaches with all of his examples, the investigators understand a lot better so they are really being converted. I loved one of my recent studies of the Restoration and the Book of Mormon. I learned so much about how important it is for our investigators to read it and gain a testimony. If they gain a testimony that it is true they know that the church is true. It is really simple. I really liked when I was able to  tell this to one of our investigators and then he told he would read it that same day and pray about it. We are still waiting to see what he says but I know he will recieve his answer. We now have 6 people with a baptismal date and one this saturday. It is getting really hot here and was 75 degrees when I woke up at 6 30 I miss Utah and the cold so much! It is way to humid here. I am having a lot better time with my new companion and we are having a lot more success. haha Do you think it will live? I dont know about skype because I am going to be transferred from this area before Christmas. I am hoping to go to a rich area haha.
Love, Elder Monson