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
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