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Hi Dad,
Well, I'm doing much better. New Year's Eve I ate guinea pig and duck. Yeah, the paws on the guinea pig freaked me out. The duck wasn't so awesome either, but at least it wasn't recognizable.
M** and his family have bitten the dust. I fasted for them yesterday and my mission president offered to visit them, but M** doesn't even want to make time for a visit. We're going to stop by tonight. I'm really sad beyond belief for them, but I can't make choices for them.
We're finding new investigators but the second visits are killing us because they don't exist. The P** family, Y**, M**'s family, N**, A***, and E** are all people that we still haven't visited for a second time because they disappear or, frankly, don't want a visit from us.
My camera died. Sorry, no pictures. Love you. Have a great week.
Dear Family,
I'm so glad you've been practicing Spanish with Hyrum and Renzo. They're Jared and Brigham, uno y dos (one and two). They sit around on the tablet and computer all day while harassing people on Skype. It's hilarious to see the correlation. I found a GUITAR on New Year's, so it was my friend that night. It was annoying though because it's missing the A string. Just ask Josh, on a scale of 1-12, how annoying that'd be.
We are officially starting English classes on Tuesday. I'm very, very scared. I've never taught English before and I've heard that it's tough, but we'll see. The ward (congregation) is super excited to learn English, and we are praying that we can bring investigators and less active members to the Church through English classes.
J** watched the Mountain of the Lord twice and loved it. I can't wait to talk about the temple with him tonight. He's as excited as ever, and I feel really blessed to have the opportunity to teach him.
My new companion is exactly what I needed to not go completely insane. He listens to music all the time (which is a good thing!), he's very spiritual, he adds positive ideas, he's obedient, and he doesn't boss me around all day. We're focusing on converting the people. We're encouraging them to read their scriptures! It's amazing to see how reading the Book of Mormon and getting a testimony of it and of Joseph Smith help people grow closer to the Savior. They really start their own personal conversion to Christ. This is really our job as missionaries; to help people come to Christ. We can't go to Christ for them, but with guidance from the Lord, we can know how to help them along. That's our focus as a companionship, and we hope that all goes well.
Thank you, everyone, for your concern and support for me and the people over here. We are seeing progress, and it's amazing to see the difference the Savior can make in the lives of those that trust him. Have a great week!
Love,
Elder Avery
Happy New Year from Peru (December 30, 2013)
The Worth of One Soul is Great (January 13, 2014)
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| Renzo, Hyrum, Elders Avery and Calderon New Year's Eve 2013 |
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| Eating Guinea Pig and Duck!! The paws on the guinea pig freaked me out... |
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| Pinata on New Year's Eve |
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| Elder Avery and Elder Calderon Los Rosales, Lima, Peru |
