Email - August 26, 08

ok so hi everyone sorry it took so long today but they change stuff up on us. like our mission for instance. one minute you think your going to bolivia santa cruz and the next your going to lima south. but thats life. and no joke. they havent changed my mission to santa cruz but i will be serving in lima south for 6 weeks at most, or so they hope.

the reason is because bolivia visas have changed a little and they feel that if they send us before resolving the issue it could cause some problems in the future. because of that they figure it best not to push buttons and keep all 20 of us here in peru. some are going to south others are going to east, but all of us are a little shaken up i think

i personally feel ok with it all. obviously i want to be in santa cruz but im called to be a missionary and will serve my heart out whereever i go. which will be lima south. look it up. its actually the place that we went this last saturday which i need to tell you about, and will because most likely my next 6 weeks are tied directly into that event.

so saturday we did contacting all day. it was for an event called puertas abiertas, and our job was to invite everyone to it and get references for anybody we could. well the event was great. i think all together we got about 2000 to 2500 references. so ya thats pretty good for 80 missionaries. i wont say how many i got here cause its not important that everyone knows, but me and my comp felt like we did a great job and were very happy with how the day played out.

so how does my temp call, and saturday fit together, well they say that since the event was in mission sur and the pres wasnt planning on a change this week that six of the 7 of us are going to work primarily on those couple thousand contacts and thats basically it. was far as i know im one of those six. one of the 7 will get a comp and start but since my spanish is pretty good i imagin that ill be here to help with the contacts. but who knows, obviously anything can happen.

outside of all of that i think im doing ok. i cant lie and say im totally happy. i would rather be in bolivia. it doesnt help that they say well be sleeping on the floor of some apartment, not knowing when or if our mission to bolivia will even come. they expect it to, but who knows. i can tell you one thing though. i havent smiled more in a while. its keeps me thinking positive. im excited to serve and leave the mtc itll be a great experience. its not how i expected but life doesnt go how we expect it always. so i will make the best out of this experience. what else can i do. my goal is to make the people in lima south wish that i had been called to their mission or that my mission gets changed there. ill do everything i can for this, and let god and a handfull of government officials take care of the rest.

one other thing, and it kills me to say this. dont send any letter or anything till i know where i will be. so for at least six weeks. since i havent talked with the pres. or anyone i dont if i will get more email time so stay conservative with that too. till i know anyways.

on that good note, thanks for everything youve done i appreciate it.

Email - Aug 19, 08


ok how are we all doing today.

id say i have a lot to go over but i dont really but i hope this letter can be a little more spiritual of sorts since i dont have to much

first with business.

one week from today ill be on a plane to bolivia. they say the plane will probably leave around 5 or so, so ya, we get no info on it till the tuesday morning. so yathe new group of missionaries has no argentines, but does have maybe 8 going to argentina, buenos aires, cordoba, la plata i think, all over the place, so thats kinda coolthis saturday was great. although we only got to go out half the day from 1 to 6 instead of 7 to 6 but thats ok. i went out with elder barnes one of the new american elders. mostly to help him have a good time and help him understand. so ya, it was great. we were in the poor part again, but not the same ward. it was great thouhg. everyfamily we knocked on the door of that was home let us in. yay us. so we taught every family we saw. which wasnt to many because of the lack of time but it was great. not a single person rejected us. now if that isnt as good as it gets, i dont know what is. we were excited, i think it was a blessing for not being able to be out all day. ya so since we werent in the nicer part of lima we got a lot of lessons and like no contacting but thats ok. we placed one book of mormon and had a great time. i just hope i helped elder barnes a little, so that he will look forward to the next couple of times he goes out.

ya so thank you all for writting letters to me. this week had been really hard on me, i dont know why but it was. however, i came to realize certain things about myslef and on this mission. and partially the letters that i got helped me so thanks.

one thing i realized this week, i was struggling to find the strenght physically, mentally, and emotionally to just fight through the challenges of the mission. i sorta got to a point where i said, ill give everything i can on this mission, last as long as i can. i wasnt feeling like i could last a hole two years, but i said to myself after reading in the book of mormon, that ill try something i little different. instead of saying ill give all of myself as long as i can, i prayed and said that i could have the streght to stay out here for as long as god wants me. well sure enough, like a slap to the face, i wake up the next day and feel dont only that i can stay here for two years, but i really want to be here. my whole mentallity changed about these next two years. i feel more ready to serve now for two years than ever before. i havent lost it either. i love it you know. i know that i could have this much strenght to do this, but everytime i think about it i know that this is where i need to be and god wont let my lack of strechgt get in the way of helping other people out here. as long as i maintian the desire to serve, he will help give me the strenght, i believe that. and its been working so far.

so well go ahead and call that milagro number one, because to me it is a miracle.

outside of that ive had a lot of help with other things. our district decided taht this last week we are gonna work out tounges to death and hopefully fill our minds with as much spanish and gospel as we can.

as another little note. the teachers here are so cool. they are our friends as well as our teachers. we have a great relationship with all the teachers and the people working here its great. like one giant family. we love it.

i thinkg thats about it, sorry bout the spelling mistakes, with little time i dont worry bout it to much.

lastly i want to thank my mommmy for everything she does. i want everyone who reads this to know how important she is to me. mom i love you. your as good a example and person ive ever met and i tell everyone here about you. what youve done for me i can never repay back, but i will try. and i get pretty determined. thanks

well thats about it, thanks again to everyone who helped and sent letters, and again dont send anything to this mtc cause i wont be here, if you have something, wait and ill let you know when and where when i get to the field.

one week till the field thats cool.

thanks and bye

August 12, 2008 - Email


hi everybody, whats up this week. so well just jump right in.

first i want to thank everyone who has written letters and dear elders, they help a lot. thanks for keeping me in the loop.

ok so i dont think i have told yall bout the wednesday, trip, i told you what would happen. so it was like the greatest day ever. the pizza was amazazing and the tour was really cool. i bought a cool hat, like patcha in the emperors new groove. its really sweet. i also got some neckalces for me to wear around that make me look like some crazy peruvians bum, its sweet. and then of course a soccer jersey for the peru national team. its nice but not an argentina oneafter the tour was soccer, but there were so many people i was more like, push and shove until you find the ball and then kick it in the air. but hey, when you have 30 americans playing fĂștbol, it becomes football. thats ok.

so something kinda cool i guess, im a district leader here. who woulda guessed. its kinda cool but it means i have more meeting to go to and cant slack off as much, but thats good.

uhhh, of ya of course, saturday. this saturday was mostly contacting. we went to a nicer part of town, like really nice for lima. beach front, towers, all nice. but becasue of that everyone we wanted to teach was working inbetween the hours we wanted to visit, so we ended up only teaching one person, who said that before she goes to church she wants to talk to the bishop. so we set that up, but that was it in terms of teahcing.
now contacting was really cool. o my new comp is elder griffin, another american, but thats ok. apparently i had been marked as the elder who didnt need a latin companion. i tell you, my spanish is good but i dont know where they got that idea. but elder griffin is great cause he talks to everyone. im mean everyone too. so, i sent mom the detailed letter as usual, but some quick ones for you.
within 50 of leaving the church we find one guy and start talking to him. he was just walking listening to his headphones, but we talked to him anyways. it was good, me and griffindor taught really well together, and we took the bofm and said hed go to church. score one. i count that as my official first bofm place becasue we got zero help from anyone but ourselves. so then right in front of the house of the lady that we taught a lesson, we talk to on lady. same sorta story. me and griffindor teach great, and she accepts the have the missionaries over to her house, and takes the bofm. score two. so we were kinda stoked, the first two people we talk to accept to take one from us. but then the hard times came. our guide kept getting lost, and we kept talking but most people just kept walking or said no. we got some commitments to go to church, but didnt place another bofm till our last person. she was sitting in the park with her daughter, and griffindor starts talking to her. i go back and we teach her about families. she seemed really excited and took the bofm and said shed go to churhc, and have the missionaries over. score three. so those were the 3 quick good stories. we started with a goal to place 5 and placed 3 so not to bad for our first try really. its was a good day though, we we really pleased with what we did.

so the new missionaries here a really cool. nice guys. most of the americans have a latino again which is good.

something else kinda cool, im like the official translator for all the meetings now. sacrament, devotionals, etc. its kinda cool. its hard though. to speak and listen at the same time, im good at talking, but listening come on. but ive done ok so far and im getting better. i understand almost everything at this point, its just a matter of getting it right in english.

so i think my times almost done, but not quite sure. im gonna go till they tell me to stop.

again thanks for all your letter, pam, mel, mom, dad, mom2, woman3.5, amanda, and everyone from the wards. i appreciate it a lot. and the emails too. they all are nice to get.

well thats about it i think.

i lied one more thing. i think you shoud stop sending letters soon, because ill be leaving to bolivia on the 26th. on a tuesday. so if it takes like two weeks for me to get a letter, i cant do the math, but ill let you figure that out. just if they get letters for elders, whove left it takes like six more weeks for them to get them so, ya. just watch for that.

thats all folks. thanks and bye

MTC Peru - 8/6/08 email

ok so sorry bout not emailing yesterday.

they changed the pday this week to wednesday becasue today we are going to take a tour of the city. and they wouldnt let us email and tell anyone so i hope yall arent to mad.

anyways i made a list of stuff i wanted to say and left it in my room, sounds like me. but ill do my best

bryce, how do you like your calling. sounds like a lot of fun. learn from the young mens presidents and counselors we had because they were amazing and really prepared us more than we could know till we actually need the stuff that they taught

on that note, thanks to everyone who sent me letters. i probably shouldnt really want and be waiting for the letters but we all do. ive gotten the most in my district and im so gratefull. i love hearing about whats going on there, so thanks a lot. i also saw that a lot of people started using dear elder. thanks for that too.

ok so this last saturday was really sweet. me and elder camargo taught so many more lessons than the week before. every lesson was different, but all had the same goal. to get the inactive members back to church. everyone accepted our commitments and i heard that three or four of our people went to church, which they say is a very good ratio. so good news there. also, we placed our first book of mormon. it was actually kinda a fluke even having one. one of the missionaries in the ward was like, i have to many can you hold this till after lunch. i did and lunch came by and i didnt see him. so i kept it. the first person we go looking for after lunch we couldnt find but we found one guy painting something and started talking to him. long story short, he got the book and an appointment for the missionaries to go and teach. cool beans. we also had the first door slammed in my face. that was a lot of fun. no sarcasm either. i actually laughed so loud that the ladys husband reopened the door and listened to our message. he said anyone who can be so happy to have a door slammed in his face and laugh, must be someone he wants to talk to. but not much else happened. invited him to church left a flyer and left the rest to him.

something else really cool. we got to go up to the mountains, which isnt the cool part cause its horrible up there. climbing up and down and its so confusing the people who live there only know there own street and cant help you with directions. but what was cool was the chickens. tons of chickens all over the place. last week my comp almost got eaten by a dog, this week the guide for us was being followed by the ugliest chicken ever. it was kinda funny.

anyways like last week i dont wanna go into to much detail in the email, but i wrote a letter and it has more detail.

so about today. today is gonna be the best day of my mission. we officially are the new leaders of the mtc, halfway done with out experience here and the newbees come in today. they say all but eight americans will have a latino comp. so that might be kinda cool. but, 4 lunch today they are getting us pizza hut. finally, ive been dying for pizza. as much as i love chicken rice and mystery meat, pizza will be great. and after the pizza we go on a tour of lima. you know i love history and this place is filled with it so im gonna love that. after that we go shopping. yay shopping. ive never been more excited to act like a girl in my life. but here we can buy legit soccer jerseys for 20 sols, which is eight dollars, so im gonna do it. and a bunch of ohter stuff hopefully. well see. but to end this day of days, we get to stay up and do nothing else, but the thing everyone wants to do, soccer. for 4 hours. im so excited. four staight hours of soccer, that is heaven. so ya, today will be kinda cool.

once again sorry bout not emailing yesterday, it wont happen again hopefully.

we will be leaving the mtc here in three weeks and get to bolivia 3 weeeks from today. me and like 9 others are going to the santa cruz mission there so itll be a good ride.

we get a new room, comp, and leaders this weeek so im sure ill have lots to write about next week. till then, thanks for everything. its great to have the support of everyone. im gratefull for everything you all do and have done. especially you mom, and mom number two.

i was gonna end there but i just wanna say how much i love moms. after all they do, i just find it amazing. its crazy to think about everything they do for us. thank your moms you young whipersnappers.

Peru MTC -

ok so sorry bout not emailing yesterday. they changed the pday this week to wednesday becasue today we are going to take a tour of the city. and they wouldnt let us email and tell anyone so i hope yall arent to mad.


anyways i made a list of stuff i wanted to say and left it in my room, sounds like me. but ill do my best


bryce, how do you like your calling. sounds like a lot of fun. learn from the young mens presidents and counselors we had because they were amazing and really prepared us more than we could know till we actually need the stuff that they taught


on that note, thanks to everyone who sent me letters. i probably shouldnt really want and be waiting for the letters but we all do. ive gotten the most in my district and im so gratefull. i love hearing about whats going on there, so thanks a lot. i also saw that a lot of people started using dear elder. thanks for that too.

ok so this last saturday was really sweet. me and elder camargo taught so many more lessons than the week before. every lesson was different, but all had the same goal. to get the inactive members back to church. everyone accepted our commitments and i heard that three or four of our people went to church, which they say is a very good ratio. so good news there. also, we placed our first book of mormon. it was actually kinda a fluke even having one. one of the missionaries in the ward was like, i have to many can you hold this till after lunch. i did and lunch came by and i didnt see him. so i kept it. the first person we go looking for after lunch we couldnt find but we found one guy painting something and started talking to him. long story short, he got the book and an appointment for the missionaries to go and teach. cool beans. we also had the first door slammed in my face. that was a lot of fun. no sarcasm either. i actually laughed so loud that the ladys husband reopened the door and listened to our message. he said anyone who can be so happy to have a door slammed in his face and laugh, but be someone he wants to talk to. but not much else happened. invited him to church left a flyer and left the rest to him. something else really cool. we got to go up to the mountains, which isnt the cool part cause its horrible up there. climbing up and down and its so confusing the people who live there only know there own street and cant help you with directions. but what was cool was the chickens. tons of chickens all over the place. last week my comp almost got eaten by a dog, this week the guide for us was being followed by the ugliest chicken ever. it was kinda funny.


anyways like last week i dont wanna go into to much detail in the email, but i wrote a letter and it has more detail.


so about today. today is gonna be the best day of my mission. we officially are the new leaders of the mtc, halfway done with out experience here and the newbees come in today. they say all but eight americans will have a latino comp. so that might be kinda cool. but, 4 lunch today they are getting us pizza hut. finally, ive been dying for pizza. as much as i love chicken rice and mystery meat, pizza will be great. and after the pizza we go on a tour of lima. you know i love history and this place is filled with it so im gonna love that. after that we go shopping. yay shopping. ive never been more excited to act like a girl in my life. but here we can buy legit soccer jerseys for 20 sols, which is eight dollars, so im gonna do it. and a bunch of ohter stuff hopefully. well see. but to end this day of days, we get to stay up and do nothing else, but the thing everyone wants to do, soccer. for 4 hours. im so excited. four staight hours of soccer, that is heaven. so ya, today will be kinda cool.


once again sorry bout not emailing yesterday, it wont happen again hopefully.


we will be leaving the mtc here in three weeks and get to bolivia 3 weeeks from today. me and like 9 others are going to the santa cruz mission there so itll be a good ride.


we get a new room, comp, and leaders this weeek so im sure ill have lots to write about next week. till then, thanks for everything. its great to have the support of everyone. im gratefull for everything you all do and have done. especially you mom, and mom number two.


i was gonna end there but i just wanna say how much i love moms. after all they do, i just find it amazing. its crazy to think about everything they do for us. thank your moms you young whipersnappers.