Week 15

So this week has been pretty good! i am starting to enjoy this a little more and get used to my circumstances here. it has been hard and i still am not completely there but it is a little easier. 

 

I have been keeping a personal dictionary where i write down all of the new words that i hear and it is filling up fast! but it has really been helping me learn the language. i still have trouble with the way that they say things and the structure of things but i am learning everyday. it has been nice to have Elder Gozalvez as my comp who speaks practically no english. one of the things that i noticed this week that is a real disability as we were talking with a less active member is that i have no idea how to help these people with some the things they experience in their life. haha im only 19 with practically no life experience and they expect me to help these people? but as i was thinkin about that i realized that i dont need to because the gospel of jesus christ is there to help everyone find their answers and solutions. i love the invitation that the brethren make to us, that if we have a deep question or concern in our life, read the book of mormon with it in mind and look for ways that it answers it. the book truly can answer almost anything in ways you never wouldve thought. 

 

i have had some experiences with some agnostic people and even a couple of atheists as well. trying to teach these people or listening to them make their point kind of tests your faith occasionally. it makes you really think about what you believe. but all of my doubts disappear when i realize how perfectly everything in this church fits together. i just thank God everyday that i was born into a family where i know what i know since i was born and for the blessings that i have received through that knowledge. it is so sad to see how lost people are out here and for the ones we find, how hard they have been searching for the message that we bring. it is amazing. 

 

i was reading in PMG this week about Eternal Marriage because we are trying to ease this couple into getting married so she can get baptized because he is less active and i found the coolest quote. it says ´heaven is a continuation of the ideal home´ it made me think of how my future home might be and how it should be. imagine heaven how you will and then put that into your own home... pretty cool thought. 

 

Anyway i am learning a ton out here. more than i ever could have anywhere else. things that i think i always knew, make sense now and i have been given so much knowledge. i just hope that i can continue learning and growing constantly. thanks for all of your prayers and support i really have felt the strength and the hand of the Lord in my life these recent 3 months. 

 

oh and i found out when we are heading to the temple. We are going Nov 29th at like the 8:30 morning session here. so i am excited. time is going by pretty fast i cant believe this transfer is already winding down. i am excited to see where i might be transferred next. I might have to train because we have a ton of noobs coming in. that would be super hard but fun. 

 

ya anyway reading over what i just wrote makes me feel a little weird like that was all gospely so i gotta say some more. cant wait to get home to play some fetching ball. cant wait to speak spanish like a boss. Brett said it best, ´aint no billionaire that didnt have to work hard´ to be a boss you gotta work like one. AMEN

--

Much Love,

Elder Mortenson

Week 14

So in my last email i was really struggling but this week has been much much better. We contacted so much last week and into about tuesday were just days full of contacting but now we are seeing the fruits of it and i have some stories. 

so remember that one time that i said that i would punch that dog in the face at Lake Powell? ya well it happened. we were headed to pick up some investigators to go to church and there came out of nowhere these two huge dogs one was like this huge black lab and they werent peruvian dogs, they had been well fed and had their battle scars and whatnot. anyway they chose me and ran full speed to jump on me and tried to bite me. idk if i told you but we have to carry around  a BoM in a case with us everywhere we go and so i smacked this thing down with it and then the other came at me and i kicked it in the face. this happened a couple times and they almost got me hah. my comp just stood off to the side. i freaking kicked these things so hard in the face it was so dope but they just kept coming back until about the sixth time.

story two, we prayed for an hour and 15 minutes. It was our first lesson with this guy named Carlos and it was hot and after lunch and there was slow music playing that made us drowsy while he talked but he started telling about how his son had passed away and he had had tons and tons and tons of problems in the past. We taught him about the Plan of Salvation and invited him to pray at the end of the lesson. He made up every excuse not to. he told us he felt like a pharisee and other weird things that we shot down. after about 30 minutes of that we told him that we would kneel down and wait for him to pray. the spirit was so strong and had guided our words and responses so well throughout this lesson. i spoke spanish as if i had been born doing it. we felt that if he said this prayer he would change his life so we didnt give up and we ended up kneeeling down for an hour and 15 minutes! hahaha he finally broke and prayed. we will see how he does after this because that was on friday. 

something i am looking forward to this week is that i hit 100 days on wednesday! that is a mark! i am finally starting to have some time under me. The language is still difficult, i can understand almost perfectly but speaking gives me trouble. there is so much to learn hahah.

we committed 7 investigators to baptism this week. one family that is straight gold that will get married the 19th and then get baptized afterwards and then some others who are pretty solid too that i think will hold out. It is amazing to see these miracles happéning because at the start of this transfer we literally had nothing. i found a cool quote tht i would like to share that says {there is no education like adversity.} haah boy have i found that to be true. it reminds of a talk dad gave as a bishop where he talks about the tearing down of muscle fibers to rebuild them even stronger and i have just beeen trying to keep that in mind right now. because i sure have been torn down. 

 (A "dope" USU Bull on a taxi)

also i would encourage you guys to go and listen to the conference talk by elder bednar idk exactly what it is called but i think it is the 20 marc note. it is super cool and i found a lot of inspiration in that. 

 (La Mision)

i have a couple of requests though. my comp wants a quadruple in english idk if you can get one and send it or how expensive it is? he said he would pay me back. he might want his name on it too his name is {Yecid R. Gozalvez M.} thats what he wants on it. and another comp here wants a hymn book in english so if you could send me a couple that would be nice too. and send me a rubics cube for this kid. 

  (elder Gozalvez and me)

i am doing well and i am good. thanks for your prayers and support!

--

Much Love,

Elder Mortenson

Week 13

This week was alright. my new comp is elder gozalvez from la paz bolivia and he speaks zero english. luckily i can understand and know enough spanish to where we are fine. he is like your average video gamer stereotype. He likes to work really hard though which is fine with me it makes the time pass faster. We have been contacting a ton this week because our old investigators arent really progressing and we need new ones. and the lord blessed us with 17 new ones this week. we will see if they progress. We had an emergency transfer this week in our district and my comp from the ccm elder hunt came from the other side of our mission so that is awesome. we get to chill and enjoy ourselves again. i like our new zone and they love to play soccer which is fun. 

on saturday we had a zone attack. we went to a different area and the elders from the ccm came on splits with us and it was fun. somehow Josh King, from Preston that i used to play ball with on the Cache valley elite, was there and so we got to talk. he is headed to trujillo. it was kinda sad and funny to see the noobs struggle with spanish. i was just thankful that i could speak better than he could in the ccm holy! i encountered some ancient investigators that were taught by elder griffin when he was here in the area 27 de abril so that was cool. 

we had our 6 week training with the president this week and all it was was just a Q & A which was nice because we had a ton of questions. i fell off of a bus trying to get on because it was so packed and there was no where to hold onto. i am fine though, luckily i am nimble. 

randomly there was a line we saw in the street that literally was like 3 miles long of people all wearing Guns n Roses tshirts so i guess guns n roses is on a world tour ahahah idk why they came to peru. There was also an earthquake the same night but it was weak. 

i am struggling pretty badly rn. i know a lot of spanish and can understand but i still cant get to know people and it is so frustrating. i cant teach like i want to either but i will just keep working. it just sucks being on the bottom of the totempole as well. i mean i guess i have to start somewhere but it sucks. because i am brand new and dont know enough spanish i feel like i just get walked on. 

all i still know is that it could be worse. The dude who is like 24 served a mini mission before this which idk really how it works but it was for 9 months. i think it is kinda like dad said about the tongans, a test run. haha he has been gone for almost 3 years. and he just showed me his wedding anouncement with his gf who waited the whole time for him lol. they are getting married in february, such a long time. 

the thing i look forward to is knowing that one day i will like this. 

--

Much Love,

Elder Mortenson

Week 12

Guys, 

So there goes my first transfer. My new comp will arrive tomorrow morning. his His name is like elder Gonsalvez from Bolivia and he has only 6 months in the mish. we will see how it goes. it was kinda sad saying goodbye to E. Cruz this morning. he was really excited and nervous but there goes really one of the only people i know here in the mish. he was a really was a good guy and he taught me a ton of stuff. every companionship in our zone had a transfer so we will see who the new missionaries are tomorrow. 

This week has been busy. We didnt study at all because we had a multizone and meetings and we had to go to the office for Cruz. The days here go by like weeks and the weeks fly by like days. It is crazy that i am almost 3 months in. 

I got 3 packages this week. two from dad and one from marissa for my birthday! it was awesome. i have snacks enough to last me until christmas haha. I saved the small one for saturday morning and opened up new resistance bands to use! they are awesome. Our pension made me a cake and luckily mom sent me those candles because they couldnt find any here. as they say here for my birthday we had to [tirar la casa por la ventana] it was weird to celebrate alone but it kinda just passed like every other day as i am sure most holidays will. i am just really sad about missing Halloween as the first holiday in the mish. 

it is really hard not to look at the things i am missing or will miss while out here on the mission but i am trying to keep a good attitude. 

no real stories this week. i have met some of the most humble people ever but i have also met some of the most prideful ever. people think they know everything about the bible even when Cruz would wreck them haha. It is sad to see them like that. it is also frustrating to have everyone accept our message but not really want to hear. just say they don't have time. i think we are going to drop some investigators who arent progressing. 

haha so the childrens songs CDs were a great idea too. i am going to try to find a childrens hymn book at the temple when we go next month. Also, if you are going to send another package for christmas or something i could use another twirl a tie thing or two and popcorn and some mints like altoids because we cant chew gum. Thats it though. Maybe some starburst jelly beans. 

anyway, all is well here. i am just grinding away at the time here. 

--

Much Love,

Elder Mortenson