October 24, 2009
Hey hey hey!
Alrighty then - well this week just flew by me, pretty much the same as every other week does. Let’s see . . . this past Sunday, I performed the baptism of Fernando, the 17 year old that I interviewed earlier that week. It was a good service and a the missionaries present did a really good musical number. Fernando is a good kid and I have a feeling that he will grow up as a really great member of the Church.
This week I received a bit of a personal revelation or, perhaps better stated, a good eye opener. We got to play basketball with one of the zones here in Piura this week, and my body was dying after the first five minutes. We played for about an hour, and for a while Elder Gale and I put on a pretty good show, and then . . . we died. My body hasn’t hurt that much in a long time. So the eye opener is that I am more out of shape than previously thought. Hooray.
On Wednesday I had the opportunity of doing another baptismal interview. It was a 46 year old man named Julio. And, let’s just say that was the experience of the week, the month, and maybe the last few months. I think the interview went for nearly three hours. I didn’t even realize how much time went by. I came out and Elder Gale said: “Elder, you were in there for almost three hours.” Julio definitely has a life time full of experiences. He was scheduled to be baptized the following day, because it was his birthday. However, that could not quite happen. He still has things he needs to do. But, we set a goal for him and his son to get baptized this coming Sunday. So, hopefully all goes well and that will go through tomorrow. It’s been a pretty interesting, and was a very good experience for me to help him through all this. Baptismal interviews are really cool. There is a spirit in those interviews that is just so clear and powerful. I have been keeping up with Julio the last couple days, calling him to see how he is getting along. I thought he would be upset about not getting baptized on his birthday, but he is still excited as ever and really has a much better understanding of progressing in the gospel and the importance of working through a full, true repentance. I am very excited for him.
Ok, now for a few not so much inspiration as funny moments from this past week.
Story One: Where’s the gas go? I was driving with Elder Escobar, and we went to put some gas in the car. I don’t know how, but I always manage to make a fool of myself in public, especially with Elder Escobar. But seriously, I guess I have always been that way. So I told the guy what we want and he said: “Alright open the little gas door.” I then reached down under the steering wheel and without looking, pulled the first handle I felt, and pop! The hood the came up. Great. I felt so dumb. All the guys at the gas station laughed at the dumb gringo who thought you put the gas in from under the hood.
Story Two: Emailing Mayhem. Lately we have been sending a lot of information to each other through the office email - just little work stuff. Whenever we write something we put the missionary’s name in the subject so we know who it’s for. So, being the clever, witty guy that I am, I decide to put “ELDER!” in the subject and then in the text area I wrote: “Haha made you look.” Of course, I assumed that everyone would open it, because was sent to everyone and the subject wasn’t specified. Then I figured we would all get a big laugh out of it. But, in all my brilliant scheming I failed to eliminate one person from the distribution list: President Chipman. Well, I probably have never felt like more like an idiot my whole life. But, President Chipman is pretty easy going and got a good laugh about it. So . . . whew.
I was looking at our office numbers for the past few weeks, and had to sit everybody down and have a “this is how it is” talk about how much teaching we are getting in. It has been a bit low the last couple weeks, and I would really like to see us more success in the last few weeks of the cambio. But, all in all, things are going great here in the office. I really love life as a missionary.
Do you remember Hermana Ynes? She was my pensionistta in San Pedro where I started, and part of the first family I ever knew. She has been cooking for us this past week, and told me some stuff that has been going on within her family that has been kind of sad and stressful for her. They have been having some trouble with their oldest son, 17, who has apparently fallen into the wrong crowd. He did some things recently that caused his parents some concern, and indicated he does not have any plans to serve a mission. She kept saying: "I just don’t know where we went wrong with him . . . ." It was pretty sad to hear her say that. I consider these people as my family here in Peru. I love them, and the children are like another little brother and sister to me. Please keep them in your prayers. I love them very much.
Well, I think that’s it for this week. Thanks for the letters, wishes and prayers from everyone. Keep readin’ the scriptures. The Church is true. No doubt about it.
Elder I love being a missionary Royal
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