Week 48

So ya where do I start with this week?  We had our last goodbye with Pres. Boswell this week at our multi-zone conference. It wasn't my last goodbye because we saw him yesterday in our ward and again today and we will see him Wednesday but the rest of the mission said their last goodbyes and everything. It was pretty sad. He gave the last prayer and everyone was crying after. He was such a great president, a great example to me and he gave me a ton of great council. 

Our new mission president, President Amato, got to the Missionary Training Center last week and will be here Friday. the office is doing tons of preparation stuff for him. Pres. Boswell is just burning everybody on everything so that the mission is the best that it can be when he gets here. It's pretty exciting. We will have multi-zone meetings with the new president after he gets here so I will let you guys know next week how he is after we get a feel. 

Well, I got bit by another dog this week. It was super dumb. One of the converts here has this huge savage dog that protects her house. it was her birthday and we were looking for her because we had bought a cake for her and anyway to make the story short we were walking around going to the school and her friend's houses wherever she might be. Anyway, her mom who is ancient, took the dog out and we were just sitting there below the hill in the street waiting for the bus and the dog came from behind and bit just below the right pocket on my pants. Haha it ripped my nice blue pants and it peeled away a little skin but nothing too bad. We are investigating to see if it has gotten its shots...nothing yet. I don't think it is anything to be worried about. 

So today we moved... Elder Garate and I had to go to the offices this morning and get the guarantee money and then we came back and had to pack up all of our stuff. The other elders had called a moving van. We were burning stuff in the back because other elders had left a ton of crap and we are responsible for cleaning out our "Cave" that is how it is known here in the mission because it's so dark, cold and damp. The moving truck came and we loaded everything in and it drove clear up the hill, pretty ghetto, and we unloaded everything in like a half hour, passing it through the window of the apartment on the second floor to be able to make it here to the internet cafe. Haha we haven't even eaten lunch but the move was pretty legendary, we literally moved everything in like an hour total. So ya we are hyped for the new apartment because the last one was trash. We still have to go clean it out and everything though. 

On Saturday we went out working with the Missionary Training Center elders who are training in our area. We went with some kid from South Carolina. It is pretty weird to see them and imagine that I was in their shoes way back when, not understanding anything. He was freaking out because it was so dusty and there were dogs in the streets and that we invited a lady to baptism and she accepted. I kinda miss being so excited about those things but its chill, I have new responsibilities to focus on right now that I am excited about. hahaha I got corrected by one of the teachers from the Training center. I had to welcome the new missionaries and tell them what we were gonna do, in English and it was super weird, but anyway I said "you guys" and their teacher had served a mission in SLC and thought he was the man and told me that they were "elders and sisters" and that the term "guys" is slang. I said sorry that I didn't know that since I am just a native English speaker and he told me that it was no excuse so I was pretty burned about that. haha

I did my first divisions this week with Elder Anderson. He is like my twin practically. He is from Twin Falls, he played ball and everything. It was fun to talk to him.  We stayed up late talking about life and whatnot. I've eaten hamburgers like 3 times this week because there is this place in our area that is super good and cheap. 

 

Anyway, I think that is about it. We should have at least one baptism this month. I am going to go to my first Council of the Twenty this Wednesday. My first and last with President Boswell. I am pretty excited, but that is all the news I have for you. Thanks for everything, hope you all are doing well. 

--

Much Love,

Elder Mortenson

Week 47

So this week was fetching dope. Manchay is the bomb, I love it here! So this place is literally like clear up in the hills above La Molina and it is straight dust like there is the main road that is paved and like a couple of others but the rest is dirt but it is sic. We live in like a cave. Our house is super trash and dark and cold so we are gonna find another. I sleep with a sweater and hat and sweats because we are so high up we are like in the clouds but it is cool so don't be worried. We live with Elder Peña from Cusco and Elder Farnsworth from my group from Boise. It is super fun in our room haha. My companion, Elder Garate, is honestly a boss. Like I said, he was the assistant to the President a couple of months ago and he has read every book of scripture we have and literally knows so much doctrine and whatnot. He is teaching me so much. 

The first night when I got here he took a dry-erase marker and wrote all over our window with things that i needed to learn. Lets just say that the window is covered with stuff. I am learning slowly, one thing a time but I will get there. It was super weird to go to the district meeting and be in charge and go to the leadership meeting before and talk with the district leaders and ask for the indicators for the first time but it was cool. Literally my comp has created our mission, he has come up with all the ideas that president uses and whatnot it is dope. And besides that he is super funny and we have a great time. 

We have some awesome investigators here. We found like 3 families this week. The only thing we are working on is getting some of our investigators married because marriage practically doesn't exist here in Peru which is unfortunate but it can be done. The ward here is pretty sic too. La Molina is in our zone as well so we can go down to the grocery stores and whatnot, like I ate Pizza Hut today which was awesome. We also played some ball with Elder Anderson who is the District Leader, he is also from my group and is from Idaho Falls and we watched the movie The Croods. 

I'd also like to give Dad a S/O for Fathers Day. Hope you had a great day. I thought about you yesterday. I would've got you something dope if I were at home... Thanks for being a great dad and helping me out in everything always and for keeping me out here. 

So anyway this week is gonna be a weird week. We have the Council of the Twenty on Thursday, otherwise known as leadership council with President. It will be my first with him and my last. And then we have a multi-zone conference on Friday where we will say goodbye to him and sister Boswell and then on the 30th Pres. Amato gets here. It will be cool and weird to have so many changes.

But anyway I am just here in the dust on the top of the mountain just trying to do my best and learn what I can. SkyBison out. 

--

Much Love,

Elder Mortenson

Week 46

So this week has been quite eventful...I'll fill you in.

On Tuesday I went on divisions with Elder Iglesias, one of the assistants. He gave me a lot of good tips and whatnot on how I could do better in training and better in teaching and other stuff in general. It was pretty fun. My comp went with Elder Truman, the other assistant. He was kinda mad because he hates divisions but he seems to be learning a lot. 

On Wednesday we had our zone meeting. The doctrinal focus for this month is the Holy Ghost. We got some talks and one of them was by Elder Bednar, it was super cool. He talks about how we should learn, in addition to listening to the still small voice.  He says that we cannot be expected to have the Holy Ghost with us every second of every minute of every hour of every day because we live in a fallen world but we can strive to have it with us at least more than it is not with us. He also talks about the Liahona (a guiding tool described in The Book of Mormon) and how it is a shadow and a lesson for our day because it is a physical guide that operates under the same principles as the Holy Spirit. 

On Friday we had interviews with President, we were his last interviews before he leaves for his home in Arkansas in 3 weeks. It was a pretty cool interview. I have been feeling that I was lacking something in the mission and I asked my companion a couple of weeks ago and he kinda burned me and told me I didn't love the people. So I asked president how he thought I could develop that and he gave me some good tips. It was a really powerful interview, I won't give you all of the details but his wife taught us some other cool ways to study the scriptures that I think I will apply. 

Yesterday we had a zone attack in San Fransisco, one of the areas in our zone. We went early and the Zone Leaders made us pancakes and whatnot and it was super good. We also did a Mini-Mission-Meeting type deal for the ward where all of the people under 25 were invited and we talked about certain topics and the mish and all that. I got to teach about the law of chastity haha. 

There were a couple days this week that were pretty hard, we had full agendas but all of the appointments fell through so we ended up just contacting hardcore and no one wanted to let us in so we didn't find many new investigators either. I suppose we have to have some hard days to enjoy the easier ones. 

So yesterday we waited all day to hear about the transfers. When we got to dinner Elder Hunt told me that president called him and told him that he was going to be zone leader back in Santa Anita. I laughed so hard because neither of us were too fond of Santa Anita and the zone leaders area there is so small. But I suppose karma is a you know what, because as we waited for our District Leader to call us about transfers President texted me telling me to call him and he notified me that I'm going to be zone leader too. I'm gonna go to a place called Manchay in La Molina. It is literally just dust and I'm gonna be companions with the former Assistant, Elder Garate who is really cool and is gonna teach me so much. So you guys can imagine that I am pretty nervous! I haven't even been a district leader yet hahah. I suppose president thinks it will be my opportunity to learn charity and learn to love other missionaries by serving them. It is gonna be a huge responsibility but I suppose with a lot of faith, spirit, prayer and the help of The Lord I'll be able to do it. So please pray for me...

 

But anyway that is the news of the week. Ill let you know what the area, companion, and responsibility is like next week.

--

Much Love,

Elder Mortenson

Week 45

This week was the same as the other 40 that I've been through haha but I suppose I can still fill you guys in...

On Wednesday we had a Family Home Evening activity with one of the converts who lives up on the hill and we invited tons of people that live up there to go. We always do FHE´s in our pension's house on Monday nights but attendance has been lessening and its kinda far away so we decided to do it up the hill. Everyone said that they would come but then ended up bailing... We at least had one investigator come and two members so we taught the 10 commandments with different signs that you do with your hands to help you remember them and then we ate some refreshments, so it was pretty chill. 

I went on divisions with our District Leader on Thursday and that was fun. Divisions are always pretty weird but I went with a cool Elder from Chile. He lives right outside of Santiago. I always tell people that Laura, my sister, went to Santiago for study-abroad and they always ask what part of Santiago but I don't remember so help me out on that so I can at least have a connection with the Chileans. 

We had a zone attack in one of the sister´s areas on Saturday morning. Kinda boring but its cool to help out the other areas. If you don't know what that is, the whole zone gets together and hits up an area and just splits up and contacts as many people as possible to help them out. We found this ghetto little passageway in the middle of nowhere and found 2 new investigators so that was cool! 

Yesterday was Fast Sunday. I was especially hungry this fast because I hadn't felt very well just before. But ya so we ended our fast eating with the bishop and he is super cool. He served in New York in the same mission as Bart Leichty I'm pretty sure. He even speaks English!

We gave a blessing to this less active member family's grandma this week, it was really cool. The parents aren't members of the church because they aren't married but the grandma is and so is the grandpa and the kids. She is pretty much on her death bed and we found them and they asked us to give her a blessing and we blessed her that the Lord`s will would be upon her and that if it be the Lord`s will that she could go in peace because the family is really struggling having to take care of her and pay for her. There was a super strong spirit there. 

Transfers are this next week so i will fill you in on Monday if I'm going...i think I'm probably bouncing but we will see what happens. 

But anyway good week, I'm doing fine. Thanks for everything. 

--

Much Love,

Elder Mortenson

Week 44

Ya so anyway this week was the same as the other 40 that I've been through haha but I suppose I will still fill you in...

On Wednesday we had a Family Home Evening activity with one of the converts up in the hills and we invited tons of people that live up there to go. Because we always do FHE´s in our pension's house on Monday nights but attendance has been lessening and its kinda far away so we decided to do it up there. Everyone said that they would come but then ended up bailing... We at least had one investigator come and two members so we taught the 10 commandments with different signs that you do with your hands to remember them and ate some stuff so it was pretty chill. 

I went on divisions with our District Leader on Thursday and that was fun. Divisions are always pretty weird but he is a cool guy from Chile. He lives right outside of Santiago. I always tell people that Laura went to Santiago and they always ask what part and whatnot but i dont remember so help me out on that so i at least can have a connection with the Chileans. 

We had a zone attack in one of the sister´s areas on saturday morning. Kinda borning but its cool to help out the other areas. If you dont know what that is, the whole zone gets together and hits up an area and just splits up and contacts and whatnot to help them out. We found just this ghetto little passageway in the middle of nowhere and found 2 new investigators so that was cool. 

Yesterday was fast sunday and that is always a win-lose haha. I was especially hungry this fast because i had diarrhea just before, not during, and then after i broke it.(dont put that on my blog) But ya so we ended our fast eating with the bishop and he is super cool. He served in NY in the same mission as Bart im pretty sure. He speaks english and everything so that is cool. 

We gave a blessing to this less active member famlies grandma this week, it was really cool. The parents arent members because they arent married but she is and so is the grandpa and the kids. She pretty much on her death bed and we found them and they asked us to give her a blessing and we blessed her just that the Lord`s will would be upon her and that if it be ther Lord`s will that she could go in peace because the family is really struggling having to take care of her and pay for her. There was a super strong spirit there. 

Transfers are this next week so i will fill you guys in on monday if im going...i think im probably bouncing but we will see what happens. 

Cool doctrinal thing i found out this week in my reading of Jesus the Christ is that Judas Iscariot is a son of perdition... 

But anyway good week, im doing fine. Thanks for everything. 

--

Much Love,

Elder Mortenson

Week 43

So this week was about the same as every other week in the mission hahaha. Sorry if my emails get a little repetitive. 

On Saturday we had another baptism! We were able to baptize Milagros, she is the daughter of a couple of members. She is in a wheelchair (don't know all the details) but she was scared of the water when she was younger and I guess she decided now was her time. The baptism was super interesting, I baptized her but her dad had to come into the font with me and carry her and after about 3 times of trying we finally got it so her whole body went under the water. It was a really cool experience actually. 

We had my companion's 6 week training with the mission president as well. It was alright I suppose. It was more fun when I was the one who had 6 weeks haha. They separate the trainers from the new missionaries and the young´n's are allowed to ask any questions and whatnot and president helps them to find answers and stuff. I just got instructed by the assistants on how to train and be a better leader so it was cool. 

The married missionary couple came to our house this week to help us out with the stuff in our room. Hahaha Finally we have hot water in the shower! I haven't showered in hot water since like the beginning of my second transfer in San Borja but that is chill you get used to it after a while. But it is so nice now because I like want to take a shower in the morning because the weather is getting cold and it's no fun going from cold to ice cold water. 

We had our stake conference yesterday. Luckily we watched it through a camera and didn't have to go all the way to the stake center. It was pretty interesting. Lately I've been thinking back on my life a lot and how the experiences I've had relate to the gospel and I have come away with some pretty good stuff, some pretty good talk material I guess you could say. Kinda like what dad did when he was bishop using some type of experience from his life that related to practically any principle of the gospel. You guys will just have to wait to hear them when I give a talk. 

Anyway I don't have much more to say. I will send you the pics of the baptisms of Flor y Milagros so you guys can see.  Because of the conference they didn't get confirmed yet so they will be confirmed next week. But ya, all is well, Peace. 

--

Much Love,

Elder Mortenson