Work Work Work

Very tired and wet, as a matter of fact it's pouring rain right now haha. We've been able to find lots of new people this week which we're excited about. We found a very less active family that has a 9 year old daughter who hasnt been baptized yet- Natalie. She's super  cool and we're excited to work with the family and baptize Natalie;) we set a date for her on the 24 of March and we're working hard to reactivate the family as well. 

Raul is doing awesome, he'll be getting the Priesthood this Sunday and hopefully a calling as well. We've been talking to him a lot lately and he's told us how excited he is to move on with his life in the church, he said that as he left the water when he was baptized he felt like he could accomplish almost anything. Pretty inspiring to me cause there's a lot of times where I don't feel like that haha. This week I almost felt inadecuate to be in such an awesome ward haha, we had lots of meetings this week with Vilcanota ward and the bishop, everyone is doing so well with helping us find people to teach and introducing us to their friends and I felt so grateful, and also inadecuate haha. But I realized how awesome it us to have so many people help me, a lot of times I feel like I need to do everything myself and it'll all be okay, learning to trust in others and in the Lord as well. Grateful for these experiences and for the chance to grow so much, Elder Sanjines is helping me a lot, he wants to learn so much and in the process while I teach I learn a ton too haha. We're doing really well and it's crazy how he's more than halfway done with his training already. Goes by fast. Hope you all had and have a good week!!! 

1 Corinthians 12:26-27

26 And whether one member suffer, all the members sufferwith it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it.

27 Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.

Raul's Baptism

Woo! Very very cool baptism for Raul Turpo, and everything went really smoothly, Vilcanota is an awesome ward, they helped us out a ton in the baptism and basically just in general with Raul. In this part of Peru the church is very new so a lot of ward and branches struggle with what to do and how to do it but dang it's getting better;) We love seeing the progress of the wards and the church here. But anyways, Raul's baptism went super smooth and you could tell Raul was ready and that he could feel the spirit during the ordinance. All the missionaries (10 of us) in Sicuani came to see the baptism which I was really grateful for haha. Honestly just feel really blessed lately for the opportunity to help people come unto Christ and make covenants with God. This week I was thinking a lot about how terribly imperfect I am but how God could still use my hands to help so many people. Really cool. 

Cool experience while we were preparing Raul this week, his cousin just all of a sudden walked in while we were planning Raul's baptism and sat down and started listening. I was like oh hi what's your name, his name is Jhon- yes, spelled like that- he's 13 and he used to listen to the missionaries before and has gone to church a couple of times, he told us he really wants to get baptized in this church and wants to listen to us. In that moment I couldn't believe what was coming out of his mouth that's like a missionaries dream to hear those words lol. We asked him to say the closing prayer and he said he was super grateful for Raul's example, Jhon came to his baptism as well and honestly still can't believe it at this moment haha. It's weird that we haven't met Jhon until now and no one told us about him but thank goodness he walked in that one day, God has a time for everything. 

So yah, just very grateful for all these experiences, the time is going by faster and faster which is scary but I'm just gonna take advantage of what I have to serve the Lord. Love you all and hope you all have a good week!! Let me know how things are going! 

So tired, but so good

This week was awesome, as usual, but Raul passed his baptismal interview and so this Saturday will be his baptism!!! It's been perfect, he's a golden investigator as we say in the mission, as soon as we got to the area we met him, his first lesson we invited him to be baptized, and now here we are! It's actually been a perfect first transfer for Elder Sanjines but I told him the whole mission won't be like this hahaha. But he's doing really well, we study a lot together and it's crazy how much I'm learning as well, I feel like I'm at the same spot with him in all this haha. 

We're really excited for Raul, but we've had a ton of investigators that are just not progressing anymore, it's hard but we're finding new ones everyday, Melisa and Washington are doing well, they couldn't come to church yesterday but we'll get them there soon. I'm still teaching English every Saturday which is a blast, I didn't know some many people wanted to learn English. It's kind of overwhelming being the only one teaching so many people but I do my best to help everyone out.

Sorry I don't have much stories or pictures today, we've been working hard and loving it. We played lots of soccer today, (I'm getting better every Monday;) Lots of good stuff happening, transfers are next week but me and my companion will stay, (training is 2 transfers) So yah! Hope you all had/have a good week!!!!

"When I was 14, I was amazed at how ignorant my father was. When I became 21, however, I was startled at how much he had learned in 7 years." -Mark Twain 

:)

Cusco, Perú- Coolest place in the world

First I'll talk about investigators so I don't forget- Raul is doing awesome, he's ready for the 17th and he's gone to church every sunday, he's honestly a golden investigator cause all his family are members and they help him a lot, really cool guy and super excited for him. This week we were looking through old investigators that other missionaries have taught in our area and decided to go visit a family they used to teach. They're awesome! Their names are Melisa and Washington and their 6 year old daughter Alejandra. They invited us in right away and they straight up told us that they were waiting for the missionaries to come back someday to teach them. The sisters used to teach them about 2 years ago and they also had plans to get married! But the sisters got transferred and somehow this family was never taught since then...until now. :) This Sunday they told us they'd start coming to church again and start listening to all the lessons, we're pumped. They're a really cute family and I love teaching families it's such an awesome experience. I decided to start up English classes for our ward and dang I guess everyone wants to learn english in this city we had a TON of people showed up which was a blast, teaching english is one of my favorite things to do to find more people to teach and serve, so fun. Good week!

Last Tuesday, we had our super P-day with Presidente Herrera, we went to some inkan ruin site (there's no pictures sorry but it's cause there's a billion more for today) and played soccer and other games, lots of fun and we had a nice conference the day before, learned a lot. 

Basically just saw half of Perú today. We had our pension's husband take us in his car to a bunch of historical sites. The first one was an Inkan bridge Qweschaka something like that, and yes it is the same one in Emperor's new Groove, how dope is that? Super super super cool place, also really fun to be able to cross it as well. The second place we went to was called 4 lagoons and that's pretty much what it was haha, but really really pretty! The last place we went to was more really cool Inkan ruins and another bridge but mini. I had a blast today. I know I've said this a million times but I'm so grateful for where I'm serving, it's so dang cool and something I will never ever forget. 

I hope you all had a good week!! I did! Jacob 3:1-2

1 But behold, I, Jacob, would speak unto you that are pure in heart. Look unto God with firmness of mind, and prayunto him with exceeding faith, and he will console you in your afflictions, and he will plead your cause, and send down justice upon those who seek your destruction.

2 O all ye that are pure in heart, lift up your heads and receive the pleasing word of God, and feast upon his love; for ye may, if your minds are firm, forever.

Oh thank you to the Mint Canyon young men for the package!! It was hilarious! Loved it!