Hey Hey Hey!
Well world, this will be my last official email here in Chachapoyas. Mom and Dad will be here before next Monday, so this is it. But don’t cry just yet, because I am sure that Dad will make me report my last week to complete Elder Royals Adventures in the Southern Hemisphere, aka Peru. Dad is big on reporting, journal writing - so you have probably not yet heard the last from me.
We have had a pretty interesting week. It was definitely more successful than the last couple. We had six investigators at church yesterday, inlcuding Maria and Erick, a mother and son, who are just awesome. We have known them forever and they haven’t come to church yet, and I will tell you what, when I saw them walk through the door I got up and ran to them and nearly hugged Maria, I was so excited to see them. We had another mother with her daughter, Isabel and Vania, who are set to get baptized on the 28th. That is so, so, so exciting! I wish I could be here for it, but they have chosen to follow Christ and that is all that matters. It will be nice for my companion to have a few baptisms after I leave. So, yesterday went pretty well. Oh, I hear that Spain won the World Cup. I was happy about that as well. haha. We were walking through the street and looked into a store where the game was on and happened to walk by just as the winning goal was kicked. That was kind of exciting. Hooray for Spain. I bet Zack is happy.
Lucero has sadly become more discouraged and a lot less active with us. She does not read her Book of Mormon anymore and has stopped coming to church. So, it doesn’t look like she will be getting baptized this Sunday after all. That is really sad. I am not really sure what will happen with her and her family. Perhaps in the future, but I am not sure that it will be with us. It would be really nice to be able to see her baptized before my departure, but we have no control over whether a soul will accept an invitation to follow Christ. Still, we take great joy when that happens, and are saddened when it does not. I believe Erick and Maria will follow through with their baptismal commitments. It may take a miracle, but I believe in miracles, so we’ll see.
I had a funny experience this week, while teaching a lesson and I said to the lady: “El Holy Ghost.” She stared at me kinda weird for a second and then I realized that I said it in English. I don’t think that has happened to me ever...or at least not for a long time...so it’s kinda weird that it happened to me with 23 months and 3 weeks as a missionary :) but it was funny. Hey, special thanks to Grandma Kelly and Uncle Danny for their recent letters. I am so grateful to receive mail. I will give you both extra special letter hugs when I get back.
I am trying hard to continue showing my dedication as a missionary. I can not believe that time has gone by so quickly and that I will be finishing this week and home this month. Landon and I will be roommates, right? That’s pretty cool. In my final week here, I hope to be able to continue working well and make something good happen while I still have time. I hope I have done a good job as a missionary for the Lord. I think every missionary passes through rough times, adverse circumstances and occasionally allow negative thoughts drag us down, but at the end I hope to be able to know within my heart that I have done and feel at peace that my service as a Special Witness of Jesus Christ has been an acceptable sacrifice to Heavenly Father. I hope to be able to leave Elder Elias with a disposition to be obedient and diligent throughout his entire mission, and beyond. Really, I just hope to have been able to do as good of a job as Cuz Cody as a trainer, and Cuz Jason, who trained when he had I think less than six months, so he must have been on track. I have loved being a missionary. Sometimes I think I beat myself up too much as a person. Unfortunately, I have weaknesses and faults. Oh, how I wish those tricky little devils didn’t exist. But, I know that as long as I strive to be humble, God will help me, guide me, bless me, and help me improve. (Ether 12: 27, 37.) The gospel of Jesus Christ is true, and paves the way to the only course to true and lasting happiness in this life. I have testified of that as a missionary for nearly two years now, and it is as true now as it was in July 2008. The Church of Jesus Christ has been restored by a living prophet and it stands on the earth today, with a firm foundation that will not be moved but which will continue to grow and expand into all the world in preparation for the Savior’s Second Coming. To play the slightest role in that expansion is a privilege and blessing beyond description. I love being a member of this Church, and having the trust of God to be able to teach his children. In the words of Josh Groban, in a song with words of which I understand very little, because it is in Italian: "Time to Say Goodbye." I will miss Peru and the people here, and I will never forget my experiences serving the wonderful people of Peru. See you guys on Saturday!! I love you. Thanks for being so great my whole mission to me. The gospel is true! Live it. Love it. Cherish it.
Love, Elder "Sock ‘em Boppers" Royal
Monday, July 12, 2010
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Chacha Branch Conference Was Awesome!
Hey hey hey!
This last week was awesome. Mostly because it was Branch Conference here, and President Chipman came to town with his wife and the assistants. That made life really good. They showed up Friday afternoon and have been with us ever since. This week we spent most of our time looking for the members and trying to get people excited about the conference.
Saturday and Sunday were the most significant days. We started in the morning having our personal interviews with President. It was my last interview with him in the field. My last interview will be in about two weeks with the rest of the missionaries that are going home. After our interviews we went to the Chacha plaza together with the six missionaries and President and Hermana Chipman. She took out her violin and started playing (probably something never seen here in this town) and that attracted quite a bit of people, and the rest of us, including president, talked with whoever walked by and invited them to the conference. We went walking around through Chacha for a bit like that and it was really cool. Saturday afternoon I had the chance to proselyte with just me and President Chipman. That was AWESOME. We went to Lucero’s home, who is supposed to be getting baptized in two weeks, but is kind of struggling right now with her husband who is a bit more opposed to the whole thing now after being very neutral in the past. President talked with her husband, but not about the baptism. It was very relaxed about his work and other things, and then he indirectly taught about the beauty of a gospel based family. I have never felt that same spirit in their home as I did that day. President offered a prayer at the end and it was really powerful – Lucero was crying and you could tell her husband was fighting tears as well. IT was a sweet experience. We visited a few menos activos after that, and they were all great experiences as well.
Saturday night we had an activity in the church focused on the spirit of the hymns. We sang the favorite hymns of the people in the congregation and President played the piano while Hermana played her violin. We watched “Only a Stonecutter” which is a great video for those who haven’t seen about perseverance and fulfilling callings. It was a great activity. Sunday morning went very well, also. We started with separated classes, the women with the Hermana, and the men with the President…and we were with the Primary. Hooray! We had a general session as well and we have never had so many people there, and it was very nice. President and Hermana both gave excellent talks and expressed their love for everyone, how the members here are pioneers. And they really are, the Church is only about six years old here and they are all converts within that time. This place will be big someday.
We had a baptism after the conference. It was Jobita (pronounced with an H), an older lady who is very frail and was waiting for over three months to have her interview with President to be able to baptize her. We all drove down to the river and had to find a spot that was not moving quickly but still deep enough. It was pretty interesting, as we had to carry most of the people over a small part of the river to put them on a island to be able to get to the spot. We carried Jobita to the spot and had two elders in the water with her. It was a great success and no one got hurt – and I didn’t even fall over or in the water helping women and children cross the river. Go me.
We just got back from Kuelap, the Machu Pichu of Northern Peru. We went with all eight of us. It was cool, but I am tired and car sick. While I enjoyed going a second time, it was not as exciting as the first time. Still cool, though. They are headed back to Piura tomorrow as we continue working here in Chacha. So with two weeks left we are going to see what we can do. I just realized that Mom and Dad will be here in 12 days!! Wow! I bet they are pretty trunky! (Ha.) I am so happy to still be here, “grinding it out” as Whitney once told me, and will finish strong here. By the way, Whitney and Brad, I got your package this week. Thanks! It was awesome. Thanks Whitney for writing that note and thanks Brad for not even writing your name on it. I sent two or three letters off a bit ago, for the fam and responding to Tia’s birthday letter. I thought it would be there by now but I found out the office elders are slacking and haven’t even sent them yet. So hopefully they get there before I do. (Ha.) President Davie!!! Thanks for your letter. I really appreciated it. Everyone, the Church is true, the Book of Mormon is true. I know that (in part) because I visited the Gadiaton Robbers’ hideout today. Seriously. That’s what we have all decided. Kuelap equals Gadiaton. ;0) Have fun everyone!
Elder "Giant Gummy Bear" Royal
This last week was awesome. Mostly because it was Branch Conference here, and President Chipman came to town with his wife and the assistants. That made life really good. They showed up Friday afternoon and have been with us ever since. This week we spent most of our time looking for the members and trying to get people excited about the conference.
Saturday and Sunday were the most significant days. We started in the morning having our personal interviews with President. It was my last interview with him in the field. My last interview will be in about two weeks with the rest of the missionaries that are going home. After our interviews we went to the Chacha plaza together with the six missionaries and President and Hermana Chipman. She took out her violin and started playing (probably something never seen here in this town) and that attracted quite a bit of people, and the rest of us, including president, talked with whoever walked by and invited them to the conference. We went walking around through Chacha for a bit like that and it was really cool. Saturday afternoon I had the chance to proselyte with just me and President Chipman. That was AWESOME. We went to Lucero’s home, who is supposed to be getting baptized in two weeks, but is kind of struggling right now with her husband who is a bit more opposed to the whole thing now after being very neutral in the past. President talked with her husband, but not about the baptism. It was very relaxed about his work and other things, and then he indirectly taught about the beauty of a gospel based family. I have never felt that same spirit in their home as I did that day. President offered a prayer at the end and it was really powerful – Lucero was crying and you could tell her husband was fighting tears as well. IT was a sweet experience. We visited a few menos activos after that, and they were all great experiences as well.
Saturday night we had an activity in the church focused on the spirit of the hymns. We sang the favorite hymns of the people in the congregation and President played the piano while Hermana played her violin. We watched “Only a Stonecutter” which is a great video for those who haven’t seen about perseverance and fulfilling callings. It was a great activity. Sunday morning went very well, also. We started with separated classes, the women with the Hermana, and the men with the President…and we were with the Primary. Hooray! We had a general session as well and we have never had so many people there, and it was very nice. President and Hermana both gave excellent talks and expressed their love for everyone, how the members here are pioneers. And they really are, the Church is only about six years old here and they are all converts within that time. This place will be big someday.
We had a baptism after the conference. It was Jobita (pronounced with an H), an older lady who is very frail and was waiting for over three months to have her interview with President to be able to baptize her. We all drove down to the river and had to find a spot that was not moving quickly but still deep enough. It was pretty interesting, as we had to carry most of the people over a small part of the river to put them on a island to be able to get to the spot. We carried Jobita to the spot and had two elders in the water with her. It was a great success and no one got hurt – and I didn’t even fall over or in the water helping women and children cross the river. Go me.
We just got back from Kuelap, the Machu Pichu of Northern Peru. We went with all eight of us. It was cool, but I am tired and car sick. While I enjoyed going a second time, it was not as exciting as the first time. Still cool, though. They are headed back to Piura tomorrow as we continue working here in Chacha. So with two weeks left we are going to see what we can do. I just realized that Mom and Dad will be here in 12 days!! Wow! I bet they are pretty trunky! (Ha.) I am so happy to still be here, “grinding it out” as Whitney once told me, and will finish strong here. By the way, Whitney and Brad, I got your package this week. Thanks! It was awesome. Thanks Whitney for writing that note and thanks Brad for not even writing your name on it. I sent two or three letters off a bit ago, for the fam and responding to Tia’s birthday letter. I thought it would be there by now but I found out the office elders are slacking and haven’t even sent them yet. So hopefully they get there before I do. (Ha.) President Davie!!! Thanks for your letter. I really appreciated it. Everyone, the Church is true, the Book of Mormon is true. I know that (in part) because I visited the Gadiaton Robbers’ hideout today. Seriously. That’s what we have all decided. Kuelap equals Gadiaton. ;0) Have fun everyone!
Elder "Giant Gummy Bear" Royal
Monday, June 28, 2010
The Long and Winding Road - Leads to Chacha
Hey Hey Hey!
Well, this past week went a bit better for us than the last week did. We were able to do pretty well as far as teaching goes before Thursday night when we left for Chiclayo for the zone conference. That was definitely the highlight of the week – it was my last conference and it was a good, good, GOOD one. Fun fact, Elder Gavarett of the Seventy and area presidency was there – and he was at my very first zone conference as well. So, here is the fun fact, it was Elder Yupanqui’s last conference, my first conference – and now my last conference, and Elder Elias first conference – all with Elder Gavarett. Woo hoo! Anyway, it was a pretty amazing conference, to say the least – all four talks were excellent, from President and Hermana Chipman, and Elder and Hermana Gavarett. Actually, I especially liked Hermana Gavarett’s talk about how as missionaries what it means when we “accept” our mission calls – to submit ourselves completely to the Lord’s will. It was really a great final conference. I bore my testimony with the other missionaries who will be going home next month, a nice tradition here. It was a pretty weird feeling – especially as I looked back 20 months ago I was listening to guys going home sharing their testimonies and thinking to myself: “Wow, that could never be me. No way I will get it all together like that.” Oh, what a mission does to a young whipper snapper…those first few months are definitely interesting. I can say that they were probably the most difficult of my life, but once I got adjusted things just took off. The mission has been just absolutely awesome.
We had a few busing problems because of the zone conference. Nothing like spending two nights in a row on a bus. So the all night bus ride was fun and we were tired during the conference. There was a moment when my companion started falling asleep, leaned forward a bit and drooled ALL OVER the floor. I laughed at him. That night we had to travel, too but we had to go on separate buses because there weren’t enough seats so instead of leaving at 7:00 pm with the other elders, my comp and I left at 11:00 pm, and unfortunately on a bus that didn’t go straight to Chacha, but stopped in another town about an hour and a half away. We arrived early Saturday morning (a town I have never been in) and had to find a car to take us to Chacha. We did it without much difficulty. Good thing I have been able to figure out how this country works. So we were pretty tired all day Saturday, too and ended up visiting a lady and her sister, two grandma ladies. Sadly, one of them is blind. We were sitting and talking with the blind sister waiting for her sister and husband…and well, my comp took advantage of the situation and laid down on the couch and fell asleep for about 10 minutes until the other lady came as I continued visiting with the blind sister. I woke him up real quick before anyone arrived. I envied him. Really, we were so, so tired.
We had a decent day at church, having two investigators there, which…..is quite the improvement from the last couple weeks. There was a serious lack of people though, overall. There was some kind of holiday this past weekend and a lot were gone. But my comp and I taught the Gospel Principles class and it went pretty well. Lucero is started to pick things up a bit. Here is some really interesting news – we were able to get her to select her baptism date, and she said July 18th. That will be my last day here in Chachapoyas and I told her: “My parents will be here that day! HEY, MY DAD COULD BAPTIZE YOU!!” Lucero really lit up when I said that, and got pretty excited. So…we are gonna work really hard to make that happen, sure will be a great way to say goodbye to Chacha. She is doing very well, and I think we will be able to help her take that final great step.
I have really loved being a missionary, and I am so excited for three more weeks to work. Chacha is a difficult area, but we are working hard. We have a branch conference this week with President Chipman so we will be preparing for that. That should be awesome! Dad, that “Chuck” thing from last week was pretty funny. Who’s Chuck? (Am I supposed to know him?) Elder Yupanqui said I look more like “Jim” from “The Office.” (Ha) I like that one. A special thank you to Uncle Dave and Sister Taylor for writing me this past week. You guys are awesome. I wish I could reply, but I am really pressed for time today. But, I am so grateful for family and friends who have loved and supported me during this past two years. It is an amazing thing to feel the love and prayers of so many. I love this Church, which has the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I love the Book of Mormon, and I love my Salvador, Jesus Christ, with whom I have become so much closer to with during this mission time. Have a great week everyone! Love you all and thank you for your support!
Elder "Rockin’ Robin" Royal
Well, this past week went a bit better for us than the last week did. We were able to do pretty well as far as teaching goes before Thursday night when we left for Chiclayo for the zone conference. That was definitely the highlight of the week – it was my last conference and it was a good, good, GOOD one. Fun fact, Elder Gavarett of the Seventy and area presidency was there – and he was at my very first zone conference as well. So, here is the fun fact, it was Elder Yupanqui’s last conference, my first conference – and now my last conference, and Elder Elias first conference – all with Elder Gavarett. Woo hoo! Anyway, it was a pretty amazing conference, to say the least – all four talks were excellent, from President and Hermana Chipman, and Elder and Hermana Gavarett. Actually, I especially liked Hermana Gavarett’s talk about how as missionaries what it means when we “accept” our mission calls – to submit ourselves completely to the Lord’s will. It was really a great final conference. I bore my testimony with the other missionaries who will be going home next month, a nice tradition here. It was a pretty weird feeling – especially as I looked back 20 months ago I was listening to guys going home sharing their testimonies and thinking to myself: “Wow, that could never be me. No way I will get it all together like that.” Oh, what a mission does to a young whipper snapper…those first few months are definitely interesting. I can say that they were probably the most difficult of my life, but once I got adjusted things just took off. The mission has been just absolutely awesome.
We had a few busing problems because of the zone conference. Nothing like spending two nights in a row on a bus. So the all night bus ride was fun and we were tired during the conference. There was a moment when my companion started falling asleep, leaned forward a bit and drooled ALL OVER the floor. I laughed at him. That night we had to travel, too but we had to go on separate buses because there weren’t enough seats so instead of leaving at 7:00 pm with the other elders, my comp and I left at 11:00 pm, and unfortunately on a bus that didn’t go straight to Chacha, but stopped in another town about an hour and a half away. We arrived early Saturday morning (a town I have never been in) and had to find a car to take us to Chacha. We did it without much difficulty. Good thing I have been able to figure out how this country works. So we were pretty tired all day Saturday, too and ended up visiting a lady and her sister, two grandma ladies. Sadly, one of them is blind. We were sitting and talking with the blind sister waiting for her sister and husband…and well, my comp took advantage of the situation and laid down on the couch and fell asleep for about 10 minutes until the other lady came as I continued visiting with the blind sister. I woke him up real quick before anyone arrived. I envied him. Really, we were so, so tired.
We had a decent day at church, having two investigators there, which…..is quite the improvement from the last couple weeks. There was a serious lack of people though, overall. There was some kind of holiday this past weekend and a lot were gone. But my comp and I taught the Gospel Principles class and it went pretty well. Lucero is started to pick things up a bit. Here is some really interesting news – we were able to get her to select her baptism date, and she said July 18th. That will be my last day here in Chachapoyas and I told her: “My parents will be here that day! HEY, MY DAD COULD BAPTIZE YOU!!” Lucero really lit up when I said that, and got pretty excited. So…we are gonna work really hard to make that happen, sure will be a great way to say goodbye to Chacha. She is doing very well, and I think we will be able to help her take that final great step.
I have really loved being a missionary, and I am so excited for three more weeks to work. Chacha is a difficult area, but we are working hard. We have a branch conference this week with President Chipman so we will be preparing for that. That should be awesome! Dad, that “Chuck” thing from last week was pretty funny. Who’s Chuck? (Am I supposed to know him?) Elder Yupanqui said I look more like “Jim” from “The Office.” (Ha) I like that one. A special thank you to Uncle Dave and Sister Taylor for writing me this past week. You guys are awesome. I wish I could reply, but I am really pressed for time today. But, I am so grateful for family and friends who have loved and supported me during this past two years. It is an amazing thing to feel the love and prayers of so many. I love this Church, which has the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I love the Book of Mormon, and I love my Salvador, Jesus Christ, with whom I have become so much closer to with during this mission time. Have a great week everyone! Love you all and thank you for your support!
Elder "Rockin’ Robin" Royal
Monday, June 21, 2010
Knock, Knock. Who's There? Weird Angry Guy
Hey Hey Hey!
We had an interesting week here in Chacha…filled with all kinds of weird and delightful stories, which I hope will entertain you all. It was pretty rough for our investigators, probably the most frustrating week I have had here up to this point. We were not able to teach very much at all, and when we did teach it was very difficult to get our investigators to act and complete commitments. It was the first time of my time here in Chachapoyas that we haven’t had any investigators at church…dang.
Chachapoyas is pretty interesting in many respects. It is a beautiful place, a small town, secluded and there seems to be some small mindedness on the part of many here. For example, people have some pretty different ideas about who the “Mormons” are. Cecilia is still doing really well as the newest convert, and we have been able to contact two new people and are working on a third one. We talked to Cecilia a bit this last week and asked how she has been since her baptism. She said things have been “interesting.” Apparently her neighbors have really given her a hard time about it, and even her two young kids are already getting fingers pointed at them with rude comments from their classmates. That is just so sad. I have seen that happen everywhere I have served; however, it seems to be a lot worse here in this small town. I think that is why it is so hard to talk to people here and be able to teach and help people progress. If we talk to one person, their neighbors immediately begin telling them derogatory and false things the LDS Church, or just make fun of them in order to shame them from talking to us further, making them afraid to even look at us in the street, let alone talk to us. So those are our investigator woes right now…trying to overcome that. We are working with a lot of great people right now. Lucero`s family is doing ok…the good news there is that her 25 year old son is finally reading and loving the Book of Mormon, and we were able to finally meet and teach her husband. He has never wanted to talk to us before, but yesterday we taught him and it went really well. We are teaching Maria and her son Erick, who are coming along decently and may have a baptismal date this week. We are teaching Cecilia’s amiga Miriam and she has potential as well. We are kind of in need of new people right now and hopefully this week turns out better for us. We are gonna keep looking and working hard, no matter who points fingers at us, because we are not ashamed of the Savior Jesus Christ. Not now. Not ever!
We did a service project this week cleaning an investigator’s garden and that went pretty well. We even had some help from a youth, so that was cool. We had another ward activity on Saturday that went extremely well, with lots of members and investigators. We met at the church and played some games and did a kind of potluck deal. As missionaries we took “Shukos.” (Ask Elder Winn if he knows what they are.) It’s a Guatemalan dish that is delicious. My companion whipped them up real nice and boy were they good…I`ll definitely take that recipe home because they are pretty easy to make.
Okay. Story of the week. There is some guy that always come to our apartment late at night at least once a week and bangs on the street door. Not our apartment door, but the main door to get into the complex, annoying EVERYONE - usually at midnight or later. So after two months of that, once a week, I got a bit annoyed. On Wednesday when he came and we went down from the third floor to open the door. I think he was a bit drunk. He didn’t say anything - just kinda walked in and I asked who he was, why he doesn’t have a key, and why this and that…blah blah. (I know, I should have asked him gospel centered questions, and told him about the keys to salvation or something.) Anyway, we left it at that. He came back the next night…but at 5:00 am and awoke us from the dead of sleepiness. So my comp got up and we yelled to him from the roof to stop knocking or we were gonna throw cold water on him. (Haha. Another gospel teaching opportunity, living water.) He kept knocking…so we kept our promise and threw cold water on him. Well, not ON him, but only because we are really bad shots. To our credit, we just barely missed him. Then I yelled to him again to stop knocking and he just kept demanding that we come down and opening the door, calling us names, etc. (Okay, this suddenly is not looking like my best story.) We found out where he apparently lives, and his wife came out and told us they are separated and to not to let him in. So we slid a note under the door that said, “No te vamos a abrir. Chau.” Or, “We are not going to open the door. Bye.” So he left, and we found the note a few hours later when we left for breakfast, and kept it as a reminder of the Parable of the Ten Virgins (he knocked but we could not let him in because he was not prepared). So that made for an interesting two nights, and he hasn’t been back since. It was annoying; yet, funny - all wrapped into one big ball of coolness.
So that was last week. We are hoping and looking forward to having more success this week. We are really hoping for another baptism soon. We have a bit more time to do it. We are working hard. Life is good. My comp is awesome and we are getting along great, laughing and having fun. And that’s pretty important in the mission field. Dad, I hope you had a fantastic Father’s Day. I am so grateful for all you and Mom have done for me over the years. Where would I be without you? I hate to think about it. I am so grateful for all your love and support - and for all the great letters and boxes you have sent throughout my mission. That has meant so much to me. Dad, I remember the words you told me over the phone once while I was sitting under a tree outside my dorm at BYU one Sunday afternoon: "Just have faith. Keep the commandments and do your best. Heavenly Father will take care of the rest." Those simple words helped me then and continue to mean a lot to me. It is hard to believe my mission experience is coming to a close. It’s been such a great experience. Thanks for being such a great dad, Pops. You’re awesome and I can’t wait to see you guys walk through that Chachapoyas airport door. Oh, and a late happy Father’s day all you fathers our there! Hope yesterday was good. Everyone, keep being cool, and remember that the Church is true . . . because it is. Live it. Nothing will change your life, or bring you more happiness - even in the worst of times - than embracing the Savior and His gospel.
Elder “Today is the 1st Day of Summer There, and the 1st Day of Winter Here” Royal
We had an interesting week here in Chacha…filled with all kinds of weird and delightful stories, which I hope will entertain you all. It was pretty rough for our investigators, probably the most frustrating week I have had here up to this point. We were not able to teach very much at all, and when we did teach it was very difficult to get our investigators to act and complete commitments. It was the first time of my time here in Chachapoyas that we haven’t had any investigators at church…dang.
Chachapoyas is pretty interesting in many respects. It is a beautiful place, a small town, secluded and there seems to be some small mindedness on the part of many here. For example, people have some pretty different ideas about who the “Mormons” are. Cecilia is still doing really well as the newest convert, and we have been able to contact two new people and are working on a third one. We talked to Cecilia a bit this last week and asked how she has been since her baptism. She said things have been “interesting.” Apparently her neighbors have really given her a hard time about it, and even her two young kids are already getting fingers pointed at them with rude comments from their classmates. That is just so sad. I have seen that happen everywhere I have served; however, it seems to be a lot worse here in this small town. I think that is why it is so hard to talk to people here and be able to teach and help people progress. If we talk to one person, their neighbors immediately begin telling them derogatory and false things the LDS Church, or just make fun of them in order to shame them from talking to us further, making them afraid to even look at us in the street, let alone talk to us. So those are our investigator woes right now…trying to overcome that. We are working with a lot of great people right now. Lucero`s family is doing ok…the good news there is that her 25 year old son is finally reading and loving the Book of Mormon, and we were able to finally meet and teach her husband. He has never wanted to talk to us before, but yesterday we taught him and it went really well. We are teaching Maria and her son Erick, who are coming along decently and may have a baptismal date this week. We are teaching Cecilia’s amiga Miriam and she has potential as well. We are kind of in need of new people right now and hopefully this week turns out better for us. We are gonna keep looking and working hard, no matter who points fingers at us, because we are not ashamed of the Savior Jesus Christ. Not now. Not ever!
We did a service project this week cleaning an investigator’s garden and that went pretty well. We even had some help from a youth, so that was cool. We had another ward activity on Saturday that went extremely well, with lots of members and investigators. We met at the church and played some games and did a kind of potluck deal. As missionaries we took “Shukos.” (Ask Elder Winn if he knows what they are.) It’s a Guatemalan dish that is delicious. My companion whipped them up real nice and boy were they good…I`ll definitely take that recipe home because they are pretty easy to make.
Okay. Story of the week. There is some guy that always come to our apartment late at night at least once a week and bangs on the street door. Not our apartment door, but the main door to get into the complex, annoying EVERYONE - usually at midnight or later. So after two months of that, once a week, I got a bit annoyed. On Wednesday when he came and we went down from the third floor to open the door. I think he was a bit drunk. He didn’t say anything - just kinda walked in and I asked who he was, why he doesn’t have a key, and why this and that…blah blah. (I know, I should have asked him gospel centered questions, and told him about the keys to salvation or something.) Anyway, we left it at that. He came back the next night…but at 5:00 am and awoke us from the dead of sleepiness. So my comp got up and we yelled to him from the roof to stop knocking or we were gonna throw cold water on him. (Haha. Another gospel teaching opportunity, living water.) He kept knocking…so we kept our promise and threw cold water on him. Well, not ON him, but only because we are really bad shots. To our credit, we just barely missed him. Then I yelled to him again to stop knocking and he just kept demanding that we come down and opening the door, calling us names, etc. (Okay, this suddenly is not looking like my best story.) We found out where he apparently lives, and his wife came out and told us they are separated and to not to let him in. So we slid a note under the door that said, “No te vamos a abrir. Chau.” Or, “We are not going to open the door. Bye.” So he left, and we found the note a few hours later when we left for breakfast, and kept it as a reminder of the Parable of the Ten Virgins (he knocked but we could not let him in because he was not prepared). So that made for an interesting two nights, and he hasn’t been back since. It was annoying; yet, funny - all wrapped into one big ball of coolness.
So that was last week. We are hoping and looking forward to having more success this week. We are really hoping for another baptism soon. We have a bit more time to do it. We are working hard. Life is good. My comp is awesome and we are getting along great, laughing and having fun. And that’s pretty important in the mission field. Dad, I hope you had a fantastic Father’s Day. I am so grateful for all you and Mom have done for me over the years. Where would I be without you? I hate to think about it. I am so grateful for all your love and support - and for all the great letters and boxes you have sent throughout my mission. That has meant so much to me. Dad, I remember the words you told me over the phone once while I was sitting under a tree outside my dorm at BYU one Sunday afternoon: "Just have faith. Keep the commandments and do your best. Heavenly Father will take care of the rest." Those simple words helped me then and continue to mean a lot to me. It is hard to believe my mission experience is coming to a close. It’s been such a great experience. Thanks for being such a great dad, Pops. You’re awesome and I can’t wait to see you guys walk through that Chachapoyas airport door. Oh, and a late happy Father’s day all you fathers our there! Hope yesterday was good. Everyone, keep being cool, and remember that the Church is true . . . because it is. Live it. Nothing will change your life, or bring you more happiness - even in the worst of times - than embracing the Savior and His gospel.
Elder “Today is the 1st Day of Summer There, and the 1st Day of Winter Here” Royal
Monday, June 14, 2010
I'm Gonna Be a Great DADDY! ;)
Hey Hey Hey!
Alright, I cannot remember if I have much material or not, but I am gonna start from Monday night, when the four missionaries left Chachapoyas. We arrived in Chiclayo early after an all night bus ride and we went to visit my pension in La Victoria for breakfast. That was cool! We got to the bus station where all the missionaries were and lo and behold, there stood Elder Hanke. Boom! I love that kid. So I got to catch up with him a bit. He was going to Piura as well so we sat by each other and talked most of the way. When we got to Piura, I ran into another familiar face, Elder Kevin Foutz! Yes, I finally ran into him. I haven’t seen him since volleyball of 2007, so now I finally got to see him again. That was very cool. I think it is possible that you guys will seem him next month when you come. If not, at least I got to see him before I take off. Well, all Tuesday people were taking care of cambios, so I didn’t have too much to do. I went around with the Castilla zone leaders, one of whom is coincidentally Elder Hanke (haha), and just kinda tailed along as he and his comp got their zone organized.
Wednesday morning we had our training meeting with the Assistants. There were only a few of us, a smaller group of new missionaries that came in, six I think. It was a pretty good meeting, motivated me at least a little bit. I gotta say that I had been pretty nervous about training since March. I always knew that I was going to spend my last cambio training. So, I was a bit nervous about the whole thing. Just before lunch we all met our companions. His name is Elder Elias, and he is from Guatemala. I think all of them were from different countries and when I heard that one was from Guatemala, I hoped he was gonna be my comp. I have really liked all of the guys from Guatemala that have come through the mission, so I was pretty excited to see that we were comps. We had lunch together with President Chipman, who provided us with some final words of advice before we left. It was another wonderful all night of travel. (Just can’t get enough of that!) The four of us got back to Chacha Thursday morning. The other missionaries are both new to the area. Elder Caballero, from Lima, is training Elder Viteri, from Colombia. So much for speaking all English. (Haha.) But this is better for me now. I think I am the only English speaker here in this town now. But it will be a good way to sharpen up the Spanish just before finishing. We spent Thursday morning showing the other two around their area, and they ended up getting lost the first time they went out together, so that showing around apparently didn’t go so well. As for me and my comp, we are doing juuuuust fine. I was nervous, like I said, and had all kinds of stuff going through my mind - hoping to be an all star trainer. I don’t know what I was so nervous about. But, we have done great together...at least for the four days that we have had (haha). Elder Elias is a bit on the dorky side (haha), but it’s cool because we have fun together. He is pretty relaxed and jokes around a lot, which makes walking around all day a breeze (no awkward silence or anything). So he jokes around a lot and at the same time has come out here incredibly prepared. He teaches really well and knows his way around the scriptures and lessons. It’s making for some really good experiences. So I have relaxed a lot now. I think I was just nervous about having to teach a whole lot of information to him, or have a companion that was super discouraged in his first change, or something like that, but so far, so good. His only real issue in that he has a girlfriend back home and is struggling with that. He has already showed me a wedding invitation. He talks and talks about all that and I just laugh. He has a bunch of pictures of her and when I asked to see pictures of his family.... I learned that he doesn’t have any. HAHAHA! I couldn’t stop laughing. Just nuts. I have already had to get after him for talking about her all the time. He is a convert of about five years with his family. His family was recently sealed in the temple. I guess he took a bit longer and hasn’t been a member as long, just a couple years. But he is a way cool, way good kid and I am happy to be with him. We are going to have a good six weeks together, I’m sure.
We taught pretty well this week and were able to get three investigators to church yesterday, which is way better than the ONE that we have had three weeks in a row. Cecilia is doing AMAZING. One week and member and just really fits in and is doing awesome. I am very happy for her. Sunday is still kind of annoying here because there is always something going on Sunday morning that people want to attend instead of church...like an elementary school flag ceremony. (Joy.) Cecilias’ kids, Matias and Taira, are awesome, both younger than eight years old but are going to grow up so well in the Church. They absolutely love going and don’t give it up for anything. Matias was supposed to go to some school flag ceremony and march or something yesterday, but told his teacher he couldn’t because he has to go to church. Awwww! I love that kid. He’s gonna be a great youth and missionary. That got me thinking, to how a six year old can understand so well, and that even he can put church and God as a priority, while the vast majority simply cannot do it. We are not going to be able to justify or excuse our way into the Celestial Kingdom: "But God...if...and...but, so..." Not gonna work, and Matias and Taira understand that. They are great. What an example for the rest of us!
Ok well, I am gonna finish this up. Life is good out here, we are happy, and working hard. Everyone have a great week and let us all follow Matiaś example. Let Heavenly Father and His Plan of Salvation be our priority! The Church is true! So, be true to the Lord and His Church!!
Elder Padre de Guatemalteco Royal
P.S. I had a strange urge to eat Lucky Charms last week (because "they’re magically delicious!").
Alright, I cannot remember if I have much material or not, but I am gonna start from Monday night, when the four missionaries left Chachapoyas. We arrived in Chiclayo early after an all night bus ride and we went to visit my pension in La Victoria for breakfast. That was cool! We got to the bus station where all the missionaries were and lo and behold, there stood Elder Hanke. Boom! I love that kid. So I got to catch up with him a bit. He was going to Piura as well so we sat by each other and talked most of the way. When we got to Piura, I ran into another familiar face, Elder Kevin Foutz! Yes, I finally ran into him. I haven’t seen him since volleyball of 2007, so now I finally got to see him again. That was very cool. I think it is possible that you guys will seem him next month when you come. If not, at least I got to see him before I take off. Well, all Tuesday people were taking care of cambios, so I didn’t have too much to do. I went around with the Castilla zone leaders, one of whom is coincidentally Elder Hanke (haha), and just kinda tailed along as he and his comp got their zone organized.
Wednesday morning we had our training meeting with the Assistants. There were only a few of us, a smaller group of new missionaries that came in, six I think. It was a pretty good meeting, motivated me at least a little bit. I gotta say that I had been pretty nervous about training since March. I always knew that I was going to spend my last cambio training. So, I was a bit nervous about the whole thing. Just before lunch we all met our companions. His name is Elder Elias, and he is from Guatemala. I think all of them were from different countries and when I heard that one was from Guatemala, I hoped he was gonna be my comp. I have really liked all of the guys from Guatemala that have come through the mission, so I was pretty excited to see that we were comps. We had lunch together with President Chipman, who provided us with some final words of advice before we left. It was another wonderful all night of travel. (Just can’t get enough of that!) The four of us got back to Chacha Thursday morning. The other missionaries are both new to the area. Elder Caballero, from Lima, is training Elder Viteri, from Colombia. So much for speaking all English. (Haha.) But this is better for me now. I think I am the only English speaker here in this town now. But it will be a good way to sharpen up the Spanish just before finishing. We spent Thursday morning showing the other two around their area, and they ended up getting lost the first time they went out together, so that showing around apparently didn’t go so well. As for me and my comp, we are doing juuuuust fine. I was nervous, like I said, and had all kinds of stuff going through my mind - hoping to be an all star trainer. I don’t know what I was so nervous about. But, we have done great together...at least for the four days that we have had (haha). Elder Elias is a bit on the dorky side (haha), but it’s cool because we have fun together. He is pretty relaxed and jokes around a lot, which makes walking around all day a breeze (no awkward silence or anything). So he jokes around a lot and at the same time has come out here incredibly prepared. He teaches really well and knows his way around the scriptures and lessons. It’s making for some really good experiences. So I have relaxed a lot now. I think I was just nervous about having to teach a whole lot of information to him, or have a companion that was super discouraged in his first change, or something like that, but so far, so good. His only real issue in that he has a girlfriend back home and is struggling with that. He has already showed me a wedding invitation. He talks and talks about all that and I just laugh. He has a bunch of pictures of her and when I asked to see pictures of his family.... I learned that he doesn’t have any. HAHAHA! I couldn’t stop laughing. Just nuts. I have already had to get after him for talking about her all the time. He is a convert of about five years with his family. His family was recently sealed in the temple. I guess he took a bit longer and hasn’t been a member as long, just a couple years. But he is a way cool, way good kid and I am happy to be with him. We are going to have a good six weeks together, I’m sure.
We taught pretty well this week and were able to get three investigators to church yesterday, which is way better than the ONE that we have had three weeks in a row. Cecilia is doing AMAZING. One week and member and just really fits in and is doing awesome. I am very happy for her. Sunday is still kind of annoying here because there is always something going on Sunday morning that people want to attend instead of church...like an elementary school flag ceremony. (Joy.) Cecilias’ kids, Matias and Taira, are awesome, both younger than eight years old but are going to grow up so well in the Church. They absolutely love going and don’t give it up for anything. Matias was supposed to go to some school flag ceremony and march or something yesterday, but told his teacher he couldn’t because he has to go to church. Awwww! I love that kid. He’s gonna be a great youth and missionary. That got me thinking, to how a six year old can understand so well, and that even he can put church and God as a priority, while the vast majority simply cannot do it. We are not going to be able to justify or excuse our way into the Celestial Kingdom: "But God...if...and...but, so..." Not gonna work, and Matias and Taira understand that. They are great. What an example for the rest of us!
Ok well, I am gonna finish this up. Life is good out here, we are happy, and working hard. Everyone have a great week and let us all follow Matiaś example. Let Heavenly Father and His Plan of Salvation be our priority! The Church is true! So, be true to the Lord and His Church!!
Elder Padre de Guatemalteco Royal
P.S. I had a strange urge to eat Lucky Charms last week (because "they’re magically delicious!").
Monday, June 7, 2010
Chacha Talent Shows and River Baptisms Rock!
Hey Hey Hey
Well, this was probably one of the most stressful and busiest weeks that I have ever been experienced on my mission; and yet, I probably had the lowest numbers I’ve ever reported. (Ha ha.) Um, so on to explaining, I guess. The thing that took up the most time this week was the big branch talent show extravaganza that we did here Thursday night. We didn’t have much help from anyone else in getting everything ready, so that took up A LOT of time during the first four days of the week. It was extremely difficult getting people to commit to doing acts in the show, and that was probably the most stressful part. So we spent forever trying to get that organized - that and the fact that like most activities here down south, started nearly an hour and a half late. It was scheduled for 7 pm, and there are always a few poor souls that show up on time and have to suffer with nothing to do for at least an hour. By 8:15 pm we had a decent number and finally started the show. It started out really small but a few minutes into it we had about 50-60 people which was a great turn out – more than we get in sacrament meeting…and it included members and investigators. We even had investigators do talents. It went really well and we had about 20 different acts, which was plenty. There was some pretty cool stuff, too. I have it all detailed in my journal and can’t remember much right now. I ended up playing guitar and singing with a few other people in three songs. Let’s see, Elder Tietjen squirted milk out of his eye (seriously, he did), Elder Wariner walked around on stilts, and Elder Russell did a juggling/clown act that was the funniest thing I have seen in a long, long time. We had other people sing and dance, Michael Jackson impersonations, and all kinds of good stuff. It turned out really cool. So it was a good stress reliever to have that done.
Next up, Cecilia got baptized!! It was pretty much a miracle, because we hadn’t been able to visit with her in the first three weeks after last teaching her about baptism. She was very excited to do it on Saturday. It was awesome! I seriously couldn’t believe we were able to have that go through. (Oh wow, "Hey Yeah" just started on the internet café radio.) Cecilia had talked to a couple members about baptism even before we taught her about it, and that was probably the key that got her excited in the first place. So she got baptized on Saturday. Here in Chacha we drive everyone down to a river in a van. We were on our way down when we had a little incident where we had to back up on the mountain road to let a car pass. The women in the back seat were not down with that…and started screaming and crying. No joke. They were pretty sure we were all gonna die. I was talking to the driver telling him to stop and let us direct him from behind just to be sure. Luckily, we made it all the way to the river and back, alive. Oh, and I got to baptize her. So, I have a river baptism now! Awesome! It was interesting having the service on a river shore line. We did a musical number with the missionaries, too. It went really well. It was great to be a part of a baptism again. It’s been a while, so it was nice to have that miracle come our way.
Next item, we have cambios, and I am kinda sad. I mean, who am I kidding? I was expecting it, but it sure would have been cool to be with Elder Tietjen for my last change. Anyway, he is leaving for Sullana, Elder Russell to Paita, and Elder Wariner also to Sullana. And just like that our little group of gringos has been stripped apart. Dang. But it was a good run - a really, really good run. I loved it. So what will I be doing for my final change? Training! Ahh!! I am so excited! So we are all leaving for Chiclayo tonight to get to Piura tomorrow afternoon and I will be back with my baby little missionary boy on Thursday. Well…we enter the final chapter. Please pray for me to train well.
Funny stories – we had a lesson with Lucero and her family and she had me help her plug her stereo into the wall. So, as a joke, when I stuck in the plug and I started shaking and screaming. Elder Tietjen and I thought it was funny…but Lucero wasn’t laughing very much. In fact, she yelled. It was awesome. Next, we bought ice cream and when I went to give it a lick it fell off, and while the girl was scooping ice cream for my comp, I screamed, and caught my ice cream, scaring the scooper girl and even my comp. Yep, I did a lot of screaming this week. But, I did save my ice cream. Last story, we had a lesson in the church with Rosario and William, watching the Joseph Smith movie. About halfway through it the bench that they were sitting on snapped, buckled, and they fell backward. That sure woke everyone up, especially William, who always sleeps through our lessons. Haha, they were fine and it was pretty much hilarious.
That’s good for this week, I think. So, as I enter the final phase of being a full time missionary, my mind is reflecting a lot on how I want to feel in six weeks. I hope to be able to do everything possible to sprint to the finish. Please pray for me, pray that my "son" is awesome, and that we will get along and love each other. I am grateful to still be here as a missionary. My mission experience has been more than amazing. I can’t wait to help young men get on their own missions so they can have these great blessings. The Church is absolutely, positively true! That never changes!
Elder "Yupanqui is a Grandpa Now!" Royal
Well, this was probably one of the most stressful and busiest weeks that I have ever been experienced on my mission; and yet, I probably had the lowest numbers I’ve ever reported. (Ha ha.) Um, so on to explaining, I guess. The thing that took up the most time this week was the big branch talent show extravaganza that we did here Thursday night. We didn’t have much help from anyone else in getting everything ready, so that took up A LOT of time during the first four days of the week. It was extremely difficult getting people to commit to doing acts in the show, and that was probably the most stressful part. So we spent forever trying to get that organized - that and the fact that like most activities here down south, started nearly an hour and a half late. It was scheduled for 7 pm, and there are always a few poor souls that show up on time and have to suffer with nothing to do for at least an hour. By 8:15 pm we had a decent number and finally started the show. It started out really small but a few minutes into it we had about 50-60 people which was a great turn out – more than we get in sacrament meeting…and it included members and investigators. We even had investigators do talents. It went really well and we had about 20 different acts, which was plenty. There was some pretty cool stuff, too. I have it all detailed in my journal and can’t remember much right now. I ended up playing guitar and singing with a few other people in three songs. Let’s see, Elder Tietjen squirted milk out of his eye (seriously, he did), Elder Wariner walked around on stilts, and Elder Russell did a juggling/clown act that was the funniest thing I have seen in a long, long time. We had other people sing and dance, Michael Jackson impersonations, and all kinds of good stuff. It turned out really cool. So it was a good stress reliever to have that done.
Next up, Cecilia got baptized!! It was pretty much a miracle, because we hadn’t been able to visit with her in the first three weeks after last teaching her about baptism. She was very excited to do it on Saturday. It was awesome! I seriously couldn’t believe we were able to have that go through. (Oh wow, "Hey Yeah" just started on the internet café radio.) Cecilia had talked to a couple members about baptism even before we taught her about it, and that was probably the key that got her excited in the first place. So she got baptized on Saturday. Here in Chacha we drive everyone down to a river in a van. We were on our way down when we had a little incident where we had to back up on the mountain road to let a car pass. The women in the back seat were not down with that…and started screaming and crying. No joke. They were pretty sure we were all gonna die. I was talking to the driver telling him to stop and let us direct him from behind just to be sure. Luckily, we made it all the way to the river and back, alive. Oh, and I got to baptize her. So, I have a river baptism now! Awesome! It was interesting having the service on a river shore line. We did a musical number with the missionaries, too. It went really well. It was great to be a part of a baptism again. It’s been a while, so it was nice to have that miracle come our way.
Next item, we have cambios, and I am kinda sad. I mean, who am I kidding? I was expecting it, but it sure would have been cool to be with Elder Tietjen for my last change. Anyway, he is leaving for Sullana, Elder Russell to Paita, and Elder Wariner also to Sullana. And just like that our little group of gringos has been stripped apart. Dang. But it was a good run - a really, really good run. I loved it. So what will I be doing for my final change? Training! Ahh!! I am so excited! So we are all leaving for Chiclayo tonight to get to Piura tomorrow afternoon and I will be back with my baby little missionary boy on Thursday. Well…we enter the final chapter. Please pray for me to train well.
Funny stories – we had a lesson with Lucero and her family and she had me help her plug her stereo into the wall. So, as a joke, when I stuck in the plug and I started shaking and screaming. Elder Tietjen and I thought it was funny…but Lucero wasn’t laughing very much. In fact, she yelled. It was awesome. Next, we bought ice cream and when I went to give it a lick it fell off, and while the girl was scooping ice cream for my comp, I screamed, and caught my ice cream, scaring the scooper girl and even my comp. Yep, I did a lot of screaming this week. But, I did save my ice cream. Last story, we had a lesson in the church with Rosario and William, watching the Joseph Smith movie. About halfway through it the bench that they were sitting on snapped, buckled, and they fell backward. That sure woke everyone up, especially William, who always sleeps through our lessons. Haha, they were fine and it was pretty much hilarious.
That’s good for this week, I think. So, as I enter the final phase of being a full time missionary, my mind is reflecting a lot on how I want to feel in six weeks. I hope to be able to do everything possible to sprint to the finish. Please pray for me, pray that my "son" is awesome, and that we will get along and love each other. I am grateful to still be here as a missionary. My mission experience has been more than amazing. I can’t wait to help young men get on their own missions so they can have these great blessings. The Church is absolutely, positively true! That never changes!
Elder "Yupanqui is a Grandpa Now!" Royal
Monday, May 31, 2010
Another Great Week in Chacha Paradise
Hey hey hey:
Well I am feeling pretty tired right now – we played a ton of basketball today after a couple weeks of not playing. It was way fun. I am getting good at basketball again. I only air ball it like half the time now…and the other half is nothing but net, just scraping the outside, so I should be hitting the rim soon. No just kidding. In all seriousness, I was playing like Michael Jordan today. And now my body is upset with me. There was some lady there kinda “supervising” us I guess, and she left after about an hour. When we finished about an hour later, we went to leave and the whole gym was locked. How did we get out? The window above the door. That was ridiculous. Darn that lady and her key.
We had a pretty good week. We taught a lot of people, found some good new people, and things are coming along pretty well. The family we found last week, Arturo and his wife and two kids, unfortunately were nowhere to be found and that was kind of depressing. Hopefully we can find them this next week. Lucero and her family are doing ok. Sadly enough, she told us she didn’t want to go to church anymore and that came as a shock to us, and we dug a bit deeper to find that she was a few problems with a couple members. AHHH! C’mon! It’s bad enough if problems exist between members, but with investigators? Seriously? So we tried to get all of that worked out, and I think we might have most of it taken care of, but that has been pretty annoying. It has resulted in a halt in her progression, along with her children, so that’s just…peachy. We are hoping to fix that up this week. Cecilia is doing really well, though, and may even be able to get baptized this week. She is just wonderful. We have another guy named Antonio, older man, who understands really well and completes with the readings and stuff and has a testimony, so we might have some luck there with him soon as well. We have another single mother that we are teaching, Maria, with her 13 year old son Eddy. She has two older children that study in Lima. She is really cool and is also coming along well. She told us eariler this week about how she was in a terrible car accident when her children were young, in which her husband died and she was left in a coma. So all of the doctrine that we have been able to explain up until this point has been really great for her. She will be coming along I am sure.
The biggest story of this week with investigators is Rosario and William, an older married couple. Rosario was literally ready to curse God and die after going through such a tough life, trying to have faith in God, pray, go to church, but was just never able to find happiness. We taught her three times and had really good lessons with her, but always at the end just not really willing to do anything to improve her situation, as if she is waiting for us to create some big change within her. I was kind of frustrated with her Saturday night when we taught her because she didn’t want to pray, read, or go to church. And I explained that we cant really help her just by talking, but she needs to take action. So we left a bit frustrated. Yesterday we were having no luck and pretty much walking in circles and ended up running into her and could tell she was pretty flustered. She asked if she could talk with us but she didn’t want anyone to see her. It was obvious she was about to burst into tears. We took her to the chapel and she started crying and saying that she had just argued with her husband and things were just going bad. We were able to teach her again about just giving herself up to God and putting her full trust in Him – but that means she must be willing to do her part. We had a really good lesson with her and she asked us for a blessing. (The member we teach her with had told her that in the church we give blessings of comfort.) We finished and she said for the first time that we have known her that she felt good, even at peace. So, it might be a small step forward. We will definitely see, and hopefully she will be willing to do what she needs to do to make changes.
Oh, and in the Yay me! portion of the letter: I fixed the toilet this week. Next story, my five dollar Wal Mart watch is invincible. Through my whole mission that little guy has been dropped who knows how many times, stepped on, even robbed from me (no I haven’t told you guys about that yet) and retrieved, and now, it has passed yet another test. We were walking when I dropped it again, and it fell into a street gutter with a metal bar covering type thing. I thought that was it, but after a few minutes of effort, we were able to pick it out with a couple of sticks. BOOM! Invincible. Just gotta hold on to him a bit longer…knock on wood.
I think that is plenty for this week. We are planning a big talent show this week for the branch, but inviting pretty much everyone in this town. It should turn out pretty cool. At least, we can hope. So we are gonna be working a lot on that this week to make it as awesome as possible. My comp and I will probably ended up playing and singing at least a couple songs, but there are a lot of people that are really excited about it. So we are having fun here. Alright, this is way long. Everyone, thank you for your prayers and support. I know it has definitely helped me here. As time winds down I ask that you keep praying for us. I want to finish strong! Please give my love to the Crampton family. Kolby is in my prayers. Also, tell Grandma Kelly happy birthday, and . . . tell her thanks for writing me on my birthday. Tell her I love her for being such an excellent Abuela. By the way, just a heads up, I sent you guys a couple letters and some pics so keep a look out for that. Okay, we are very good here. The Church is true and Jesus Christ is our Savior. I firmly know that to be true. Let’s all stay true, live according to truth, and follow the Savior in all we think, say and do. Then no matter what happens in life, we will find peace, comfort and happiness.
Love,
Elder “David the Plumber” Royal
Well I am feeling pretty tired right now – we played a ton of basketball today after a couple weeks of not playing. It was way fun. I am getting good at basketball again. I only air ball it like half the time now…and the other half is nothing but net, just scraping the outside, so I should be hitting the rim soon. No just kidding. In all seriousness, I was playing like Michael Jordan today. And now my body is upset with me. There was some lady there kinda “supervising” us I guess, and she left after about an hour. When we finished about an hour later, we went to leave and the whole gym was locked. How did we get out? The window above the door. That was ridiculous. Darn that lady and her key.
We had a pretty good week. We taught a lot of people, found some good new people, and things are coming along pretty well. The family we found last week, Arturo and his wife and two kids, unfortunately were nowhere to be found and that was kind of depressing. Hopefully we can find them this next week. Lucero and her family are doing ok. Sadly enough, she told us she didn’t want to go to church anymore and that came as a shock to us, and we dug a bit deeper to find that she was a few problems with a couple members. AHHH! C’mon! It’s bad enough if problems exist between members, but with investigators? Seriously? So we tried to get all of that worked out, and I think we might have most of it taken care of, but that has been pretty annoying. It has resulted in a halt in her progression, along with her children, so that’s just…peachy. We are hoping to fix that up this week. Cecilia is doing really well, though, and may even be able to get baptized this week. She is just wonderful. We have another guy named Antonio, older man, who understands really well and completes with the readings and stuff and has a testimony, so we might have some luck there with him soon as well. We have another single mother that we are teaching, Maria, with her 13 year old son Eddy. She has two older children that study in Lima. She is really cool and is also coming along well. She told us eariler this week about how she was in a terrible car accident when her children were young, in which her husband died and she was left in a coma. So all of the doctrine that we have been able to explain up until this point has been really great for her. She will be coming along I am sure.
The biggest story of this week with investigators is Rosario and William, an older married couple. Rosario was literally ready to curse God and die after going through such a tough life, trying to have faith in God, pray, go to church, but was just never able to find happiness. We taught her three times and had really good lessons with her, but always at the end just not really willing to do anything to improve her situation, as if she is waiting for us to create some big change within her. I was kind of frustrated with her Saturday night when we taught her because she didn’t want to pray, read, or go to church. And I explained that we cant really help her just by talking, but she needs to take action. So we left a bit frustrated. Yesterday we were having no luck and pretty much walking in circles and ended up running into her and could tell she was pretty flustered. She asked if she could talk with us but she didn’t want anyone to see her. It was obvious she was about to burst into tears. We took her to the chapel and she started crying and saying that she had just argued with her husband and things were just going bad. We were able to teach her again about just giving herself up to God and putting her full trust in Him – but that means she must be willing to do her part. We had a really good lesson with her and she asked us for a blessing. (The member we teach her with had told her that in the church we give blessings of comfort.) We finished and she said for the first time that we have known her that she felt good, even at peace. So, it might be a small step forward. We will definitely see, and hopefully she will be willing to do what she needs to do to make changes.
Oh, and in the Yay me! portion of the letter: I fixed the toilet this week. Next story, my five dollar Wal Mart watch is invincible. Through my whole mission that little guy has been dropped who knows how many times, stepped on, even robbed from me (no I haven’t told you guys about that yet) and retrieved, and now, it has passed yet another test. We were walking when I dropped it again, and it fell into a street gutter with a metal bar covering type thing. I thought that was it, but after a few minutes of effort, we were able to pick it out with a couple of sticks. BOOM! Invincible. Just gotta hold on to him a bit longer…knock on wood.
I think that is plenty for this week. We are planning a big talent show this week for the branch, but inviting pretty much everyone in this town. It should turn out pretty cool. At least, we can hope. So we are gonna be working a lot on that this week to make it as awesome as possible. My comp and I will probably ended up playing and singing at least a couple songs, but there are a lot of people that are really excited about it. So we are having fun here. Alright, this is way long. Everyone, thank you for your prayers and support. I know it has definitely helped me here. As time winds down I ask that you keep praying for us. I want to finish strong! Please give my love to the Crampton family. Kolby is in my prayers. Also, tell Grandma Kelly happy birthday, and . . . tell her thanks for writing me on my birthday. Tell her I love her for being such an excellent Abuela. By the way, just a heads up, I sent you guys a couple letters and some pics so keep a look out for that. Okay, we are very good here. The Church is true and Jesus Christ is our Savior. I firmly know that to be true. Let’s all stay true, live according to truth, and follow the Savior in all we think, say and do. Then no matter what happens in life, we will find peace, comfort and happiness.
Love,
Elder “David the Plumber” Royal
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