November 25th Letter

Wow I loved your letter thank you. Alright well to start out I bought you all Christmas presents!! I’ll send um sometime in December or alter. Anyway and then I bought me a small Christmas tree and nativity. :) I couldn’t help it. To answer your questions: yeah maintaining my weight. I’m pretty healthy beside the food. To be honest mom this week was really really hard. I kind of yeah forgetting yourself isn’t hard, but the family and home is. Christmas is looming and that’s rough but the people here are really nice. My companion well he’s so racists it’s actually border line funny. :) the food hard I’m hungry a lot and not used to that, I went of 7 dollars on my breakfast budget for this month , I have to take that out today but I’ll be more careful this next month, and I’m working on someone in the take and feed me dinner miracles pancakes, so my own little thanksgiving.  So here’s the letter

Esau in the bible sold his birthright for a bowl of porridge... at this point I’d sell anything for a bowl of anything BUT rice :)

This week has been a really rough one, started out good bought for Christmas and President Archibald, who I love, chastised my companion for his racisms in his letters... which didn’t help things. But anyway so Monday was great. Tuesday we had splits and a lady taught a lesson you don’t need priesthood power to give blessings she raised her dog from the dead when she laid her hands on him... Yeah we deal with lot of that stuff here. But anyway our zone for this month is 46 baptisms the most in any zone ever... our previous record was 17 ha-ha were crazy, but I love it. Anyway Wednesday I ate crap... and when I say that it was literally crap :) I had a cows colon in soup and well the stuff that oozed out when I asked my pinchanisita what it was well a gladly returned it to the right full place it belongs in my toilet after dinner. ha-ha but yeah than we taught English classes that night when the Hermanas didn’t show up, my companion hated it so much stood up and walked out bishop called after him, and by than he’d left the church I had the class couldn’t leave so bishop dragged him back in. ha-ha people here are either really nice or they hate me. I’ve surprisingly dealt with a lot of racism but people are really nice here too. We had a 1hr long companionship inventory the next day and well it didn’t help much. But we made the best companionship in the zone! And the 2nd in the mission! We’re holding out for number 1 but didn’t get a baptism this week so I don’t know. I played the piano Sunday two beautiful songs out of the hymn book, than oh come all ye faithful for closing out of my simplified and well a small sheep heard it on the other side of the Andes had a hemorrhage it was so bad. Ha-ha but this people don’t know how to read music so sacrament hymns are always interesting anyway I love it. Anyway it’s been really hard with no baptisms this week or success and my companion and Christmas and a lot of stuff. But I read a lot about the pioneers and their tails and I feel really blessed and grateful. We visited a cow farm the other day, no one’s gone to before cause of the smell, but I love it! It was just like the farm we taught the family and gave all 5 a date for baptism, only problem they just aren’t married, so I called the mariachi band and we have a date scheduled (that isn’t a joke ha-ha we literally plan weddings) anyway keep on trucking I guess. :) had a really good friend in the CCM come to our area and ask what’s wrong, he said you were so happy in the CCM what happened... First hated that but second I thought I was happy now, but made a new goal to make a special effort to be happier despite my circumstances. :) Oh and were going caroling with the consjejo de barrio this December! :) can’t wait.... I’m the only bass singer in the entire stake choir ha-ha anyway fantastico and cheerio Elder Grow

November 18th Letter

Mom I got your pictures LOVE them thank you it’s really difficult to send but working on that :) life sounds great. Sounds like your super busy. Ahhhh! photos won’t send!! Anyway question: my brown pants one side waist band won’t work do I unpick the back and fix it or what do you suggest.

Packages:

So packages either come or don’t ha-ha they go to the offices in Lima and we have to pick them up ourselves or they send them back or they go to the mission and send um to us. Ha-ha its messes up, one girl got a Frisbee jerky and gum and the other companion package got sent back so it’s kind of like Russian roulette I guess

So this week’s been really good and ah really bad :) like life i guess. Answer your questions i can’t, so if you send stuff nothing valuable, and include lots of pictures and Christmas cards :) gain any wait cause of how often i frequent the bathroom ha-ha Sundays are the worst or at least the hardest away from home :) but yeah

PICTURESSS i got the pictures of you guys and aint no shame in the fact this grown man shed a few tears :) miss you guys a lot. Souvenir I’m buying now (all cloth mostly) to pack because i don’t know if I’ll be here past Christmas and from now till February unlike the states they jack up prices. Don’t worry being frugal.

THESEEEE PICTURES WON’T SEND BLAAHHH

Anyway…

At this point i would take manna

So the week went a little something like this. First off the past p day we bought togs! Which are actually POGS? Can you believe it! And trompos, I have a new wood project for Dennis funniest thing in the entire world. We had kind of a slow p day but than for the noche de hogar a member put on the RM soundtrack for the music ha-ha i love it

Tuesday... not taco Tuesday... seriously though i don’t see how the Israelites could complain so much they had manna it’s not like it was RICE everyday ;) what i wouldn’t give for a taco Tuesday. but well looking at the positive they make a really good fried chicken here, i love paneton, and they have like a cancha popcorn snack which is really good I’ll teach you how to make when i come back. We made pauts de excellencia! Were on our way to becoming the best companionship in the mission... which is really weird because my companion is kind of a bigot and hates my guts, but I love him and hey if it isn’t broken don’t fix it. Anyway that night in another noche de hogar I prayed for god to give me a mundo mejor, only said mujer, asking god to give me a world full of women for me. yeah ha-ha anyway my companion got sick the next day and I studied and ate paneton all day, then well people here have weird dreams sometimes our lessons are just interpreting people’s dreams ha-ha for example my companion had a dream a lady in the mountains was a witch and he won’t go visit her now thinking she’s going to eat him ha-ha anyway than we taught a lesson to a girl that had found the mormon.org website and new the law of tithing in Spanish better than me, we baptized her this week, amazing how god prepares some people. the tender mercies of the lord are really great, some days well most days if were honest ha-ha i end up thinking wish i was home, and god sends a blessing our too and i love it. For example LETTERS i love them LOVE LOVE LOVE them. Love looking at you guys now helps a lot. We did service the next day wayyyyy up in the Andes in the plains of Peru... except looked more like Ireland to me ha-ha we dug in the dirt all day and farmed for this guy I WAS SO FANTASTICO I was in seventh heaven what a blast just some good old hard labor. Talked a lot to our district leader he loves westerns, musicals, and chick flicks ha-ha we had a lot to talk about. the next day was cambios and i went with Elder Leiva had a great day and in the morning woke up to A GIRL IM FIGHTINTG FOR form Mulan ha-ha he’s got a Disney cd anyway than he re iterated thee entire outline to white house down in Spanish ha-ha sounds really awesome.... i think :) than we took our investigator a stake dance didn’t stay to long obviously ha-ha but, they are the same no matter where you are  :) than i have  a lot of fleas but that good mosquito stuff you gave me, PROTECTS FLEAS so i put it on before bed helps a lot plus the 37% deet smells like I’m camping :) anyway it’s been a great long fast slow short week :) crazy think i have 3 months love you all keep writing

Hola!

Hola!! 

Way happy to write you ha-ha finally another p-day!!! It took me a good 30min to read your email alone ha-ha joking it was really nice to hear from you!

I love you so much let me just start out with that. Then I’ll do a quick summary of this week some funny stories, then try and email the girls, time is really iffy! Ok this week has been absolutely fantastic and absolutely hard at the same time :)   To start off, the week was great! Tuesday we had Elder C. Scott Grow, who is now the supervising 70 over the Peru area come! I talked to him for a while! He knew who I was, by relation to dad and grandpa. Great talk! I struggle a bit. Mornings are rough cause of the food and the long line for the shower (ha-ha) plus I’ve never been much of a morning person you know that!! :) 

But Wednesday and Thursday just got really long; a lot of Spanish, still no sun and the food had finally gotten to me, the whole being away from home I guess, but to be expected. The excitement from being away from home had quickly gone away :) However, I prayed and read my scriptures, since I’ve got here. The past 7 days I’ve been reading the Book of Mormon and I’m already to Alma 40. It’s pretty crazy, that is in English ha-ha. And well everything turned out ok. Thank you for your long letter. It was hard to read, but I look forward to it all week. P day is great! Anyway Friday went by fast and great… teaching new things… picking up on stuff. At times I get really frustrated, but then I realized I’ve only been learning Spanish for 10 days, and wow I’ve come a long way. I hope you appreciate the extra effort I’ve put into the spelling on this email :) So Saturday was great. Sunday was great, I fasted that day for some help... ironically enough the best meal we've had here. Don't get me wrong, the food is great, but rice, chicken, rice and chicken, rice and chicken, rice and chicken, than greasy eggs and stale rolls for breakfast :) let’s just say I miss your waffles :) Anyway, Sunday Elder Cook, from the quorum of the Twelve Apostles, came and talked to us. He and Elder Grow talked for like 10mins, than asked if anyone had any questions. I stood up, not on my own accord I assure you, and the words came out of my mouth I know not where from. I said "Elder Cook I've read the Book of Mormon many time since I was young, I have a firm testimony in this gospel and I know this church is true, I know god loves me and have a testimony of it but I've never read and received a burning in my bosom or Moroni’s promise, I don’t know if I can promise my investigators that something. He kind of got quiet for a while and then answered my question, I honestly don't know what he said I don't know, but then I sat down; he moved on, and he then proceeded to bless us. He blessed us that everything would be taken care of, that our hearts may be filled with peace, and well it hit me like a brick… the spirit did. I know this church is true still haven't got an answer to Moroni’s promise, but I don't think I need to cause I already know the answer, its yes. Also he said think of those you love. This is the greatest act of love… our faith and the best thing you could ever do for them. Kodi came to my mind hopefully with me being apart we can grow closer together. Anyway the next day was kind of a little rough too. Our roommates all left for Bolivia and we’re getting new Latinos today, but as I prayed for help that day a kid walked into my room, from nowhere named Elder Perez. Hadn't talked to him that much, but he just started talking to me about his family. Sometimes down here you just need someone to talk to. Anyway it’s what I needed. Lord works in mysterious ways. My companion and I are perfect. He’s kind of lazy, but amazing kid and we get along really well. I just have to pull him sometimes. it’s tough work but I’m loving it especially enough physical activity and soccer with the Latinos! it’s a blast :):) Today… temple trip was great a little kid of 3 years old was standing in the street and came and ran up as to me as fast as he could ELDERS ELDERS he said!! It was so great I talked to him in Spanish. Hah! He loved us! He was the highlight of my day, besides emailing you. Then we got on the bus. The busses here are crazy! They turn and jump and crash! The bus we were on today… I was hanging in the door with one foot and leg and the rest of my body was out! ha-ha Here’s a cool experience. I realized how much you did a good job raising me. Some elders were talking about the temple session afterwards, and I realized even as missionaries we all have different standards and some things mean more to us than others. I wanted to thank you for raising me right, with the importance of the gospel in my life! I love you so much mom I would spend 2 hrs. telling you all about it! But this hour will have to do! :) love you! Your son is doing amazing and learning and growing so much!! :) He misses you but knows you’re ok and being blessed! :) love you!

con amor

Elder Grow

I read that last letter back to myself to verify spelling it sounded a little more solemn :) haha mother. I'm loving life here. I had a rough week but I honestly am so happy down here, taking care of myself and loving life! They gave me a water filter bottle and so water is taken care of for next 2 years. I can't have any strawberries or berries other than that, we’re good :) I’m so happy and hope when you read this you know how good I'm doing :) love you!! _ con amor Elder Grow :)

Please also explain to the girls the whole time thing…I t’s really hard for me, but I’m writing them all really long letters and as soon as I get out of the CCM they'll get the time they deserve :) love ya!

Perspective. The spiritual experience for this week.

Perspective. The spiritual experience for this week.

We got a reference from the relief society presidency to visit a family who didn’t show up to church. She was pregnant with their first child and he was a grocery bagger. We visited them and no one was home or came to the gate, so i.... jimmied...and prayed with the gate and we passed through to their neighbors and the actual house. We knocked and someone answered said, she was in the hospital in dire condition near death and it didn’t look good. We were shocked we called the president reported it and left for home, it being 9:20. The next day we got the full run down; she had had the baby 2 months early and only weighed 1 kilo. The mother had a seizure mid child birth and was given a 50% to live the baby less. We rushed to the hospital with the bishop and found the young husband sitting there. We talked he told us everything, his wife in USI was unable to be visited until 2 o’clock approx. 4 hours. So i sat down, put my arm around him and prayed for my mouth to be filled. And it wasn’t. I didn’t say a word. I just sat there with my arm around him. And then it hit me. We didn’t teach a lesson we didn’t call anyone to repentance, we just "comforted those who stood in need of comfort" i dint use my Spanish didn’t have to. Later that day we came and visited him and with special permission passed and gave a blessing, as we exited the hospital looked back and saw him holding his unconscious wife’s hand next to his heart. later that day we talked to the bishop in a council, we all said a prayer and called the young father, the baby needed to be transported out of area via ambulance and the father had no money. The ward covered it. He was extremely grateful. Know the baby is in route and the wife, by a miracle and the power of the priesthood has woken up, exited USI and is recovering and getting better. I found the gospel of Jesus Christ this week, not in a lesson not in our 3 baptisms, but in a young father in a very humble hospital waiting room, who kept refreshing his phone lock screen just to see the picture of his wife and baby. Found it in a ward that pulled together who in humble circumstances themselves saved this man. I remembered my mom holding my dad’s hand in the hospital, i remembered there love. i realized when we lose are life we don’t actually lose it instead we give it away. i went back home and had my usual bowl of rice, did i like it, no i hated it still, but well i had a little more perspective and it tasted just a little better.

I have often dreamed of a far of place} where a hero’s welcome will be waiting at the gates where the crowd will cheer when they see my face, and a voice will say this is where I’m meant to be I will find my way I will go the distance ill bee there some day if i can be strong. I know every mile will be worth my while i will go almost anywhere to find where i belong.

Love you all

November 11th Letter

MOM! I love you so much!! I’ll try and answer all your questions and be super informative this week :) I love you so much and miss you guys. First your questions...

i bought the cheapest camera they have only cost 100 dollars but there was a 2 year broken or stolen Peru guarantee so i paid 30 extra knowing your son I’ll include lots of pictures for you.

The camera is like my old one pretty much a little skinnier and black and it takes pictures ;) anyway haven’t got all those letters but i might be here soon. Christmas I think I’m going to buy a llama poncho :) some souvenirs for the girls and you guys. I’ll think about the 2 gifts for the 12 days and write you next week. Also I might buy a box of American cereal... Rumor has it there’s one on the other side of town, I don’t believe it. 

The letter

C is for conceptions Chinese food, Canadians, and Cool Runnings

First off - my area. I live in apartment with a bunk bed and two desks we live solo it has to bathrooms and a floor and a roof made of tin, i love it, include pictures next week, we live in pretty good circumstances. My pinchanista is a house over cooks over a fire and we eat on a dirt floor most days. i have someone who does my laundry. I wake up every morning exercise solo :) ha-ha sing songs and enjoy it, jump in a freezing shower, pull my companion out of bed, eat bread and jam and some juice. Put on my sweater and study Jesus the Christ. Than 8 i study personally and 9 companion. Then we leave we usually come back around 1ish and eat lunch its warm by then and we eat for an hour grab our rain stuff and leave. We get back 8 or 9 eat quickly and then run up stairs and try to get in bed before 1030 but this is really tough. First off this week started off with me eating Chinese food and getting really really sick. The food his is really bad for me been sick since i got here, and well getting sick of rice. But positively speaking they make a good fried chicken. anyway we went to a noche de hogar that night which when we walked in i hear MY HEARTS ON FIRE FOR ELVIRAAAA BOW WOW WOW ha-ha I laughed so hard this guy loves 80s country music. We talked a lot. Anyway than we went way up into Lomas. where we found a really nice man, blessed his hose that the spirits would leave and when i got off his church his daughter screamed, i had sat on their baby kitten which was not moving... ha-ha she shook it.. I said a little prayer... And well it revived :) all’s well in Zion. Anyway my companion suffers from depression and problems at home. His dad has threatened to come and pick him up. But anyway he quit, just quit and i couldn’t help him. So i said a little prayer and thought of Cool Runnings :) so i grabbed the cell phone, our only reflective surface ha-ha and pulled him up and said "quien ver" who do you see, anyway than proceed to say I see power, i see authority, i see a man called of god who knows he’s a missionary, and made him repeat it. He’s doing better :) ha-ha pretty funny. But thank the next day we visited the hospital, story to come, and had a noche de missional where we watched Shrek, we didn’t watch it but put it on in the church and stood outside and played with trompos, it was difficult. Anyway than the next day had service wayyyyy up in the mountains digging dirt, and clearing rocks for a person’s house, i was so burnt after working for 5 hours it was pretty bad, worse than a fried strip of bacon :)... bacon :) anyway than my zone leaders from Canada he’s touched the Jamaican bob sled and well were planning a trip to Calgary, my district leader is from Orem and is a dramatic reader, I’m teaching him to tell stories and he’s teaching me too, when i get back I’ll be a regular folk singer with my banjo ;) than Saturday we had 3 baptisms, my companion is well he hates me ha-ha but we have a lot of success and our on our way to the best companionship in all the mission for this month.

Anyway hope this is what you want. More next week :) all’s well in Zion.

November 4th Letter

Mom!!! I don’t know what it was but wow i needed your letter this week in an awful way!! :) Oh i love Mondays!! And to enjoy the guinea pig they eat it there too :) oh what i wouldn’t give to see snow! A job!! Oh you’ll do great mom! kids love humor just be funny :) my complexion well i tried 1 pills couldn’t do it zits where my glasses were but now I’m back on 2 and doing great.  oh I pray for my friends i think I’ll cut my letter a little short and try and email some of them. This week was really rough on my, but your son pulled through :) I’m buying a camera today and then i found out the best place to buy souvenirs is here. What i wouldn’t give to see snow.

Ok so first you didn’t answer my questions ;) silly goose :;)

Anyway first

I GOT LETTERS! still waiting guess the mail is just funky. Anyway so I’m sending a response to her and to you... even though you didn’t write me ;) ha-ha

So the letter :)

Neil Diamond, Jennifer Lopez, guy, and feels like hell. :) :) :) I’m so creative

So the week started off with Monday after i emailed you i was walking down the street singing were coming to America by Neil Diamond... it was a sign it was going to be that kind of week :) yeah I missed home a lot this week it was really hard but well were smiling :) so after this my companion made a milkshake,... strawberries the fruit I’m forbidden to eat. So yeah i watched him drink it... companionship inventory ;) anyway after we played soccer in the rain at the church what a blast, than we had PANCAKES... sort of a pinchanista of one of the elders cooked them and i ate 23 :) never been so full in my life. Anyway the next day we were hiking in the mountains when we heard some screams and little kids running in doors screaming graniosos, my companion quickly picked up the pace and we made it to the investigators house. What we witnessed next was soooo cool, a wall of ice whipped down the mountains, hail, - a huge fast wall of hail. It’s really dangerous here, killed two people, anyway but so i stuck my hand out the window, and well it hurt... like hell ha-ha I’ve waited all week to say that :) anyway than we ate paneton, their version of a fruit cake, it’s a big bread with raisins and fruit but not fruit cake, anyway so it’s cold here, but not cold for snow :) in the morning its freezing, and in about 11 it gets really hot than starts to rain and rains and rains and then gets really cold. It’s rained for 21 days straight now :) am i happy for my snow/rain boots and umbrella. Anyway than we hiked way up to a house and asked a lady for her signature so her daughter can be baptized next week, she told us she didn’t know how so we taught her how to sing her name. than that night at 12 we got a call a woman crying, one of our converts, we, mostly my companion, i unhappily followed, grabbed our coats and left, when we got to the house the man was drunk, and my companion tried to move him but couldn’t. anyway i was mad and tired, and with strength born from both, and the spirit of the word of wisdom ;), picked him up on my back carried him up the stairs, with my companion in tow and..... gently... set him in his bed, where he bounced once and hit the floor... we gave him a short message there and left and consoled the family. Anyway after this the next day was the party. Here they have no activity committee it’s the elders so we planned a sort of Halloween party for the kids it was great, I’m also a wedding planner, like Jennifer Lopez, only better ;) anyway yeah i have to call the band today to verify for December, but people here aren’t married, they just live together and so when they want to get baptized well first they have to get married, and we plan it, you can see the pictures of the one:)  we just planned, and the following baptism:) anyway this week’s been really tough but hey i ate guinea pig! or guy :) it tastes like a very spice chicken, and the skin is like potato chips its really good :) anyway that’s been my week really rough lots of rain, but hey we baptized a family and married them, they’re preparing for time and all eternity, and it pays off :) love you all and missed you lots this week! Glad to hear everyone is so great :)

Elder Grow :)