Written by Elder Jacob Avery, serving in the Peru Lima West Mission of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, speaking Spanish.
We had a fairly productive week. We've been looking for new investigators and I've just come to the conclusion that I have a third eye or horns coming out of my head, because everyone is scared of us. The best part is, we're getting in great practice for Elder Estrada.
We made some progress with R** and M** V**! They're an older couple. They have two children. One of their children has a kid and the other has a girlfriend, so we're waste deep in infringements with the Law of Chastity. The parents are super good, and we're working with them to help their kids with that stuff. R** has wanted to get baptized for a while, but he's been waiting on his wife. He has a great testimony of the Book of Mormon and is a pretty big fan of Joseph Smith (me too!), but his wife has always been a little timid with the idea and hasn't been reading her Book of Mormon. So we went to their house, and this time we were determined to get them to schedule a baptismal date because they didn't follow through the first few times. We ironed out a few of the wrinkles M** had with the Book of Mormon, then the Spirit just moved the theme to baptism in 2 Nephi 31.
In a super spiritual moment R** told his wife, ''Baptism is how you enter into God's Kingdom. Right now, you're outside. The missionaries can visit us for a year, but nothing is going to happen if you don't get baptized.'' Well, we talked about it for a few minutes and, long story short, they're getting baptized the 27th at 5 o'clock!
So this week we also had a huge service project with eight other missionaries, helping a family move. I remember Mom telling me that she'd never ask the missionaries to help move again, and I was reminded of that as we helped them move. They had tons and tons of stuff. Two washers, two fridges, a gas stove, couches, tables... etc. We finally finished loading the truck, then came the great news that we'd also be unloading the truck.
So I was on top of the stuff as we were in route to the new house, and Elder Amazon was below me with one of the fridges. I told him that we had to be careful because that fridge might fall over when we started moving. I was right, but I didn't know how right I was. We hit a huge bump and the fridge and stove came tumbling down! There was a small TV on top of the stove that flew off with a dresser drawer that contained all of their scriptures, and the only person down there was Elder Amazon. Well, he fixed things up a bit and we safely made it to the house.
The new house was in the 3rd floor of an apartment. The staircase was skinny, so a wardrobe ended up getting stuck. We couldn't get it out so a few guys talked about cutting it apart but, after a good kicking, they got it unstuck. Finally, at like 2 o'clock, we finished moving. Despite our best efforts, I think every single one of of their earthly possessions got a little bumped up. I guess that's life.
Well, thanks for listening. The next few weeks are going to be crazy for us. We have Stake Conference, General Conference, then elections land on Sunday so we're not going to see General Conference until the following week when they rebroadcast for Peru. We're using these weeks to find families to teach.
One of the most important concepts that the Spirit has impacted on my soul is the reality of eternal families. We can be together forever. Christ made an eternal sacrifice to make it possible. It's not the easiest path, but it is the straightest and simplest path. On it we will acquire valuable experiences and knowledge that will prepare us for eternal progression in the world to come.
I love my family and I'm so proud for all of their great examples :) Have a great week! Have many blessings! Love you all!
Elder Avery
Training in Peru (September 8, 2014)
Keep the Commandments (September 22, 2014)
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