That is great to hear that the hole is finally being filled and that your stress
levels will go down. Ya things are pretty hot here, but it could be worse, it
could be a chicago heat!
The work flew by this week. It is the last week of the change and i still dont
know if i will be staying or going, so ill be sure to put it in my letter next
week from wherever im at! Our work this week has been focused on a few people.
Milagros and Fernando and his mother Juana. Milagros will probably be baptized
either this week or the next one depending on her interview with the stake
president. And Fernando had his baptism this last week! It was fantastic and
the best part was to see how happy his mother was. She wants to be baptized so
bad, but she needs to wait until she gets married. So now she has extra
motivation to get married!
The days are going by quicker, which is a blessing and a curse. But one really
good thing has been going on lately at night. I have been having more and more
dreams in spanish. But the funny thing is that the latins speak english and the americans speak spanish!
I actuallly had a dream with Jake Heaps in it, and we were both speaking spanish
to one another in the MTC. Kinda weird but super cool at the same time.
Hopefully all of my dreams will be in spanish soon! My spanish is coming along
very well, now it comes down to learning more words. And cleaning up the
grammer a little bit.
I have felt more and more at home here in Peru. Its not weird walking the
streets and talking to random people. I rather enjoy it more than sitting in
our basement watching the golf channel. Hard to imagine, but its true haha. The
members are still a blast, and more and more are starting to like me and get to
know me. It helps too when you know some spanish!
Here are some pictures of the life down here. The man in the black shirt is
Amner, and he is a super smart convert to the church that served his mission in
Chile. We talk to him a lot about those weird doctrines and what not.
I love you all and am so thankful for your support. And i finally received my package!!! Only one
month for bigger boxes, and a week and a half for those envelope things. Oh and
the get fuzzy calendar is EXACTLY what i wanted!!!! THANKS!!!!!!!!!!
Elder Washburn
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Hey everybody,
So we just had another change out in the mission here, and i will be staying
here in Viña for a little while longer! And even better, i recieved a new
companion!! His name is Elder Hunambal and he is a thousand times better than
Elder Estrada. Elder Estrada was a good elder and all, but we never had fun
doing the work, and he was very serious. Elder Huanambal on the other hand
loves to have fun while doing the work. And the funny thing is, that we are
doing more work now than before! We actually do contacts in the street, and
dont spend a lot of time in members houses. It really is being a missionary
now.
This week was pretty poor working wise because Elder Estrada didnt want to do
anything. It was pretty tough not teaching anyone and not doing much of
anything. We also got to hear about it from our Zone Leaders too. But we are
recommiting ourselves to the work, and we are going to shatter last weeks
numbers with this weeks numbers.
So here is a funny story about a baptism that we were supposed to have yesterday. This boy named Jair is 9 years old. We have
taught him all the lessons, and the missionaries before us have taught him as
well. Anyways, we were preparing for his baptism this week when we ran into a
little snag. In his interview they asked for his information for the papers we
have to fill out. Turns out he doesnt know his own age, neither does his
grandmother and neither do his parents!!! No one knows his age or what day he
was born or anything. And without this we cant baptize him. So we are in a bit
of a pickle, and hopefully it will get resolved soon.
Our investigators have fallen off the wagon again, and now were down to only 2.
It really sucks, but we have been receiving more refferals and more contacts in
the street, so the numbers should pick up this week. Milagros is a bit of a
problem because she has a boyfriend and doesnt want to comply with the law of
Chastity, but she has accepted all of the other laws. Ya......we will see haha.
I am doing much better now. I am much happier and feel free to talk to my companion. It has been a
little struggle to lead the area, but we haven´t been lost or anything! Other
than this very small problem i am enjoying my area more. Instead of talking to
my companion, the members talk to me, and depend on me to do things, which is
great. I dont feel like a shadow to my companion. Life is just grand, and it
looks to be better this next transfer with Elder Huanambal!
Love,
Spenser
So we just had another change out in the mission here, and i will be staying
here in Viña for a little while longer! And even better, i recieved a new
companion!! His name is Elder Hunambal and he is a thousand times better than
Elder Estrada. Elder Estrada was a good elder and all, but we never had fun
doing the work, and he was very serious. Elder Huanambal on the other hand
loves to have fun while doing the work. And the funny thing is, that we are
doing more work now than before! We actually do contacts in the street, and
dont spend a lot of time in members houses. It really is being a missionary
now.
This week was pretty poor working wise because Elder Estrada didnt want to do
anything. It was pretty tough not teaching anyone and not doing much of
anything. We also got to hear about it from our Zone Leaders too. But we are
recommiting ourselves to the work, and we are going to shatter last weeks
numbers with this weeks numbers.
So here is a funny story about a baptism that we were supposed to have yesterday. This boy named Jair is 9 years old. We have
taught him all the lessons, and the missionaries before us have taught him as
well. Anyways, we were preparing for his baptism this week when we ran into a
little snag. In his interview they asked for his information for the papers we
have to fill out. Turns out he doesnt know his own age, neither does his
grandmother and neither do his parents!!! No one knows his age or what day he
was born or anything. And without this we cant baptize him. So we are in a bit
of a pickle, and hopefully it will get resolved soon.
Our investigators have fallen off the wagon again, and now were down to only 2.
It really sucks, but we have been receiving more refferals and more contacts in
the street, so the numbers should pick up this week. Milagros is a bit of a
problem because she has a boyfriend and doesnt want to comply with the law of
Chastity, but she has accepted all of the other laws. Ya......we will see haha.
I am doing much better now. I am much happier and feel free to talk to my companion. It has been a
little struggle to lead the area, but we haven´t been lost or anything! Other
than this very small problem i am enjoying my area more. Instead of talking to
my companion, the members talk to me, and depend on me to do things, which is
great. I dont feel like a shadow to my companion. Life is just grand, and it
looks to be better this next transfer with Elder Huanambal!
Love,
Spenser
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Hey Everybody!
Things have just flown by this week. Quite literally, we went to do weekly
planning on friday and i said to myself, but we just did this yesterday! haha.
It has mainly been to the fact that we work everyday, and the spanish is coming
along so i play a more intrical part in the lessons. It has been great to speak
and listen. There are still a few people that ask questions about me to my
companion, who then tells the person to go ahead and ask me. Kind of makes me
feel dumb, but then i show them by giving them their whole answer and then some
in spanish. It shows them that im not dumb and that i actually am listening
haha. But that rarely happens now, so it only means that people know that i
know spanish!
As for the week, it has all been leading up to Sunday and to our Baptism of
Juan. He is part of a family where all the sisters and mother are members and
only he and his father are not members. His sisters converted 5 years ago, and
he has heard the discussions a dozen times but never accepted the church. Well about 3 weeks ago, he came to us and said that he
wanted to be baptised. So we have been working with him for the last few weeks,
and finally the great and glorious day came. His baptism was amazing. We had
over 40 people there and some were non members that were really intrigued by the
baptism. Some of them afterwards really wanted to hear our discussions! Juans
family was crying too, which made the day that much more special.
Another cool thing sunday was when some old investigators of Elder Estrada came
to our church to see him. They gave him a cool shirt and then we talked for the
rest of the day. They talked about the ward and all the fun things that they
did. It was great to see how much the worshipped him, and it only made me think
about the people that i have baptised and how much they will love me too.
The missionary life has become my way of living now. I have thought about home,
and just said eh...i kinda dont want to have all those problems of school and
stuff. Myabe ill just stay here haha. The life as a missionary just seems more
fulfilling than anything else i have done in my life. I look forward to each
day and the people that we have to teach. I definitely recommened a mission to
anyone that feels like they havent accomplished much in their life. You will
have no regrets for the time that you put into the mission field.
We have transfers next week, so i will let you know if they are sending me to
the jungle or somewhere!
Love
Elder Washburn
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
HOLA!!!
Life is still gleaming here in Peru, and i am ready to start the new year with a
bang. Nothing with guns or anything but with work. Funny fact, guns arent
legal here, so everyone just uses knifes. ANYWAYS!!! I am very thankful to
start the year off with a fast. I feal completed regenerated and ready to go
for this year. We have been a little lazy when it comes to contacting in the
street, but we have recommitted to do better this week and the following weeks.
As well as using the members more. They all have become more willing to help
and it really shows in the work when the members are doing the finding and we
are doing the teaching. As for teaching, things are going great. We have a new
family to teach, and we taught them the first lesson this morning! They called
us, and we just dropped everything and went, and it turned out to be a great
lesson with everyone participating. My companion is really good at adapting the
lessons to the smaller kids and having them interact more. Something that i really want to learn, because the people react much better to interactive
teaching than just the same old lesson.
I do have one really good experience teaching this week. We are teaching a
woman named Milagros, or miracles in english, and she is really nice. She
doesnt believe in God or anything, but has wanted to learn. So we gave her the
first discussion and she just drunk it all in. But the best part was when she
asked a question about Jesus Christ, and how he did what he did. My companion
looked at me bewildered of how to answer, and that is when the Spirit took over.
I told her that no one knows how he did it, but know that he did it for her
personally. How he did everything, all the suffering, for everyone one of us
individually. We say that he died for us very easily, but do we really taked
the time to realize that we are the prints on his hands and feet, that such
excrutiating pain was taken for you personally? Think about that, and realize
the great love that the Saviour has for you personally. It will truly change the way you think.
This week has been a little slow due to new years but still very enjoyable. It
turns out, that in the middle of the night there was a party on our roof, and
that was the reason why i couldnt sleep haha. All the youth from the ward were
up there blasting music haha. I didn´t even know! We have transfers coming
up, and i think that i am ready for a new companion or a new area, a little
change would be nice. But whatever happens i will know that it is for the best
and it is what i need.
I still have not received the package, but lets wait one more week, and if it
doesnt arrive then we will know that you gave a great christmas to a peruvian
haha. Speaking of which mom, i used 40 dollars to make these two huge canastas
for two families. The one family that i baptized first, and then the family
that does our laundry. We did it in secret though so no one knows haha. It is
like what we did as a family when we were kids, leaving stuff on the porch and running. Oh the good times haha.
I think that kylee will be married by next year. You can kinda survive freshman
year, but sophmore year is the killer! And letters have been really slow, i
just received the prusse´s letter, and your letter, as well as kims. The mail
is just on and off, but it should come around soon!
All my love,
Spenser
Life is still gleaming here in Peru, and i am ready to start the new year with a
bang. Nothing with guns or anything but with work. Funny fact, guns arent
legal here, so everyone just uses knifes. ANYWAYS!!! I am very thankful to
start the year off with a fast. I feal completed regenerated and ready to go
for this year. We have been a little lazy when it comes to contacting in the
street, but we have recommitted to do better this week and the following weeks.
As well as using the members more. They all have become more willing to help
and it really shows in the work when the members are doing the finding and we
are doing the teaching. As for teaching, things are going great. We have a new
family to teach, and we taught them the first lesson this morning! They called
us, and we just dropped everything and went, and it turned out to be a great
lesson with everyone participating. My companion is really good at adapting the
lessons to the smaller kids and having them interact more. Something that i really want to learn, because the people react much better to interactive
teaching than just the same old lesson.
I do have one really good experience teaching this week. We are teaching a
woman named Milagros, or miracles in english, and she is really nice. She
doesnt believe in God or anything, but has wanted to learn. So we gave her the
first discussion and she just drunk it all in. But the best part was when she
asked a question about Jesus Christ, and how he did what he did. My companion
looked at me bewildered of how to answer, and that is when the Spirit took over.
I told her that no one knows how he did it, but know that he did it for her
personally. How he did everything, all the suffering, for everyone one of us
individually. We say that he died for us very easily, but do we really taked
the time to realize that we are the prints on his hands and feet, that such
excrutiating pain was taken for you personally? Think about that, and realize
the great love that the Saviour has for you personally. It will truly change the way you think.
This week has been a little slow due to new years but still very enjoyable. It
turns out, that in the middle of the night there was a party on our roof, and
that was the reason why i couldnt sleep haha. All the youth from the ward were
up there blasting music haha. I didn´t even know! We have transfers coming
up, and i think that i am ready for a new companion or a new area, a little
change would be nice. But whatever happens i will know that it is for the best
and it is what i need.
I still have not received the package, but lets wait one more week, and if it
doesnt arrive then we will know that you gave a great christmas to a peruvian
haha. Speaking of which mom, i used 40 dollars to make these two huge canastas
for two families. The one family that i baptized first, and then the family
that does our laundry. We did it in secret though so no one knows haha. It is
like what we did as a family when we were kids, leaving stuff on the porch and running. Oh the good times haha.
I think that kylee will be married by next year. You can kinda survive freshman
year, but sophmore year is the killer! And letters have been really slow, i
just received the prusse´s letter, and your letter, as well as kims. The mail
is just on and off, but it should come around soon!
All my love,
Spenser
SHALOME!
This week has been yet another week of the hard work. Dad i have felt the same
this week. I have been wiped out at the end of everyday, but im glad that im so
tired at the end of every day because it shows me that i worked hard that day.
And its funny that im asleep by 9 30 or 10 everynight. My companion thinks that
im a little crazy. But he is the one that needs naps every now and then haha.
But the work is progressing, very slowly unfortunately. We have our
investigators but they are both a little slow mentally, so we have to teach them
for longer. We do have one woman that has a lot of problems, she thinks that
her baptism is valid in the catholic church when we told her no and she is
afraid of water haha. But the hardest and coolest part of the lessons is that
she speaks quechwa, and very little castellano. Quechwa is the old aztec
language, and my companion knows a little and we use his Book of mormon in
Quechwa so she can understand. And it was awesome, to read quechwa. Its
actually similar to english with the grammer, its also pronounced the same way as
english, so it will be the next language that i learn after spanish. WHO KNOWS
THAT ONE BACK HOME HHHMMMMMMMM!!!! Ill probably give my testimony in quechwa in
the states and here, just to be super cool. Its alright to be proud of me
parents haha.
Other than that, not much has been happening out here. We have walked to
highest part of our area, and found a family of 7! We are going to work hard
with them for the end of January. They are our blessing among all the walking
in the hot sun. I forgot my chapstick one day, and my lips are totally burned.
As a result i cant open my mouth too much, and my lips are super sensitive to
hot and cold stuff. But it has still been a great time.
I will look into the call thing, but im sure that ill be able to call on new
years day or a day afterwards. Just tell me the best day for you, and whether
to call you on the home phone or a cell phone. Im going to buy a phone card so
the whole thing will be payed for by me. They are cheap here, only 10 soles for a lot of time
so dont worry about it.
I do have one funny story for the week. So we were walking last night to visit
less actives, and people are getting drunk more and more often with the holidays
coming up and all. Anyways we were walking on the sidewalk, and a drunk man was
peeing out front of a bodega in the middle of the sidewalk we were walking on.
I jumped out of the way at the last second because my companion didnt warn me.
Moral of the story, watch where you walk cause you might get peed on, and drunk
people have no shame.
Have fun for your holidays, and try to not do what our drunk friend did haha.
But most importantly, remember why we have this season. WIthout our savior we
would be nothing more than the dust of the earth. After reading Jesus the
Christ i have gained so much more appreciation for the Savior and his sacrifice
for us.
I love you all, and am so thankful for your prayers and love this christmas
season. Cuidanse!
Love,
Elder Washburn
This week has been yet another week of the hard work. Dad i have felt the same
this week. I have been wiped out at the end of everyday, but im glad that im so
tired at the end of every day because it shows me that i worked hard that day.
And its funny that im asleep by 9 30 or 10 everynight. My companion thinks that
im a little crazy. But he is the one that needs naps every now and then haha.
But the work is progressing, very slowly unfortunately. We have our
investigators but they are both a little slow mentally, so we have to teach them
for longer. We do have one woman that has a lot of problems, she thinks that
her baptism is valid in the catholic church when we told her no and she is
afraid of water haha. But the hardest and coolest part of the lessons is that
she speaks quechwa, and very little castellano. Quechwa is the old aztec
language, and my companion knows a little and we use his Book of mormon in
Quechwa so she can understand. And it was awesome, to read quechwa. Its
actually similar to english with the grammer, its also pronounced the same way as
english, so it will be the next language that i learn after spanish. WHO KNOWS
THAT ONE BACK HOME HHHMMMMMMMM!!!! Ill probably give my testimony in quechwa in
the states and here, just to be super cool. Its alright to be proud of me
parents haha.
Other than that, not much has been happening out here. We have walked to
highest part of our area, and found a family of 7! We are going to work hard
with them for the end of January. They are our blessing among all the walking
in the hot sun. I forgot my chapstick one day, and my lips are totally burned.
As a result i cant open my mouth too much, and my lips are super sensitive to
hot and cold stuff. But it has still been a great time.
I will look into the call thing, but im sure that ill be able to call on new
years day or a day afterwards. Just tell me the best day for you, and whether
to call you on the home phone or a cell phone. Im going to buy a phone card so
the whole thing will be payed for by me. They are cheap here, only 10 soles for a lot of time
so dont worry about it.
I do have one funny story for the week. So we were walking last night to visit
less actives, and people are getting drunk more and more often with the holidays
coming up and all. Anyways we were walking on the sidewalk, and a drunk man was
peeing out front of a bodega in the middle of the sidewalk we were walking on.
I jumped out of the way at the last second because my companion didnt warn me.
Moral of the story, watch where you walk cause you might get peed on, and drunk
people have no shame.
Have fun for your holidays, and try to not do what our drunk friend did haha.
But most importantly, remember why we have this season. WIthout our savior we
would be nothing more than the dust of the earth. After reading Jesus the
Christ i have gained so much more appreciation for the Savior and his sacrifice
for us.
I love you all, and am so thankful for your prayers and love this christmas
season. Cuidanse!
Love,
Elder Washburn
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